...

Official: Some $6.5 million worth of Iranian fuels smuggled per day

Oil&Gas Materials 3 March 2013 13:22 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar.3 / Trend F.Mehdi/

Some $6.5 million worth of fuels smuggled from Iran per day, the Mehr News Agency quoted Iran's National Police Chief Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam as saying.

"We have proposed the administration to provide us money as much as one-week worth of the smuggled fuel, and we will block the border against smuggling of goods," he added.

"Iran is one of the most secure places in the world. No place exists across Iran which is insecure for tourism and investment," he noted.

The smuggling of low-quality Chinese products has been restricted to the extent that domestic textile and shoe industries have flourished, he said.

Although the recent fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates had negative effects on the national economy, but it will be beneficial in the long-term, the official explained.

The fall in the value of the national currency has spurred the smuggling of wheat, flour, meat, and basic food out of the country, he added.

More than four million liters of smuggled fuel have been discovered and seized in southeastern part of Iran during the first eleven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012, IRNA reported.

The smuggled fuels included gasoline, kerosene, and diesel. The amount of seized fuels was 40 percent higher compared with the same period in the previous year.

After a huge decrease in smuggled fuel from Iran in 2011 because of cutting offered subsides in this field, fuel smuggling revived again during last few months due to the fall in the national currency's value.

The Iranian government cut a part of fuel subsides in late 2010, raising prices significantly which led to a decrease in fuel smuggling from 10 million liters in 2008 to three million liters per day in early 2011, according to official statistics.

Latest

Latest