Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 21 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
Russia and Kazakhstan reached a preliminary agreement on oil supplies for 2012, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said, Novosti-Kazakhstan reported.
According to the agreement, the volume of Russian oil supplies to Kazakhstan will remain at last year's level - 7 million tones - instead of 6 million tones scheduled for 2012 earlier. Mynbayev said Russia agreed to supply six million tons of light oil and seven million tons of crude oil in 2012.
"We agreed on oil and oil products supplies. If the agreement is signed by fiscal bodies of two countries, I hope the issue will be stabilized for this year," Mynbayev told journalists on the sidelines of the government meeting on Tuesday.
Earlier, Russia made a decision to reduce duty-free oil supplies to Kazakhstan to 6 million tons in 2012 from 7 million tons in 2011. Restricted oil supplies may cause problems for Kazakh oil refinery work and provoke jet fuel deficit in the country.
However, the agreement has not been ratified yet.
"We will submit the agreement for ratification in the near future," Mynbayev said.
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