In 1936, the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry approved the construction of a new refinery near the Moskva River in the Moscow area, which began operation in 1938.

[2][3] Because of the importance of the Moscow Refinery to the war effort, the Luftwaffe frequently bombed the plant.

[2][3] In August 1960, a decree from the Presidium of Soviet Russia incorporated the refinery plant into the administrative boundaries of the city of Moscow.

[4] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, new units were added into the refinery to expand production range, including for dehydrogenation, producing diesel fuel, polypropylene, and catalytic reforming.

[6] On 1 September 2024, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a fire broke out at the refinery, after reports of a massive Ukrainian drone attack.