Azerbaijan, Baku, April 2 / Trend M.Aliyev /
The cost of building a refinery in Kyrgyzstan could reach nearly $250 million, Azerbaijani Minister of Industry and Energy Natig Aliyev said on Monday.
Earlier Kyrgyzstan proposed Azerbaijan should build a refinery in this country. This issue was discussed at the meeting of heads of states held last week. Currently, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is evaluating the project.
Aliyev said raw material for this enterprise will be supplied under the swap scheme. That is, crude oil for processing to a refinery in Kyrgyzstan will be supplied by Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, to which this volume will be replaced by Azerbaijan in other markets.
The agreement on the construction of the oil refinery was reached on Jan.19 at a meeting of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev. The oil refinery is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2013.