Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 24
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are discussing the details of Kazakh gasoline supplies to Kyrgyzstan and expect a final resolution of the issue within 2-3 weeks, Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told journalists, according to Interfax-Kazakhstan.
"The documents have been prepared, sent to colleagues, and this week either my deputy or other ministry official will go to Kyrgyzstan. If there are additions, they will discuss and resolve them on the spot. We think the issue of gasoline export will be resolved within two or three weeks," he said.
Bozumbayev added that the volume of export will be determined in stages, starting with 10,000 tons. Kazakh gasoline supply will be at market prices set in Kyrgyzstan.
Bozumbayev assured that there will be no problems with the lack of gasoline in Kazakhstan due to the launch of exports.
"[lack of gasoline] is impossible. If we export, we will ship [gasoline] according to quotas. There will be no shortage of gasoline," he explained.
The minister also noted that the cost of gasoline has decreased from 160-165 tenge at the beginning of the year to 150-150 tenge today.
"This is due to the fact that three refineries have been upgraded, so we have a gasoline surplus," Bozumbayev said.
Kazakhstan plans to sign agreements with other Central Asian countries, where the volumes of supplies for each country-importer of Kazakh gasoline will be prescribed. This is necessary to avoid the overflow of oil products to the markets where the cost of fuel and lubricants is higher than in the domestic market of Kazakhstan.
The official exchange rate on October 24 is 361.15 KZT/USD.