Ukraine’s increasingly efficient drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries have greatly affected the latter’s fuel stocks, with some areas restricting fuel sales altogether, and others bumping up prices to curb demand. In the face of this new reality, desperate motorists are turning to snake oil solutions such as miracle pills that allegedly improve cars’ fuel consumption.
According to popular Telegram news channel BAZA, the sale of so-called ‘fuel tabs’ has increased 2.5 times in the last month, a stat confirmed by an increase in social media posts featuring the controversial products. Sold under brands like Buqa or B-ECO, these fuel tabs allegedly improve combustion efficiency and stabilize combustion in internal combustion engines, thereby reducing fuel consumption.
The miraculous tablets can be bought from most gas stations for prices ranging between 50 and 80 rubles ($0.7 and $1.1). One tablet works for up to 200 liters of gasoline, with some brands claiming that it can even turn the inferior AI-92 gasoline into standard AI-95.
It’s unclear how the pills actually work, but experts warn that the additional additives in them might react to those already present in the fuel, causing injector problems or other engine issues. Many also believe that these pills are nothing more than an “engine placebo” designed only to part desperate motorists from their hard-earned money.
