BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 3
Trend:
The task of reforming the system of production and distribution of fuels and lubricants in Kazakhstan was set by the country’s leadership before the government, Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov said at a briefing in the Central Communications Service, Trend reports.
According to Akchulakov, the reform primarily concerns the elimination of unproductive intermediaries and tightening of the requirements for wholesale suppliers, and the final rules for subsequent implementation [of the tightened requirements] are still being discussed.
“Within such tightening, first of all, the rate of profit should be limited to prevent a sharp rise in prices. Besides, only those persons who possess oil depots on the right of ownership, but not lease, should be wholesale suppliers,” he noted. “Those persons should be wholesale suppliers who invested money, built such oil depots, except the so-called single operator of jet fuel turnover - a company that would directly supply jet fuel for the needs, including our law enforcement agencies."
"At present, we are considering the option of a possible restoration of exchange trading, taking into account the marginal market prices, and, issues of limiting the circle of participants will be also considered,” the minister noted. “Those persons should be the participants, who own networks of filling stations, and the thresholds of restrictive requirements should be lowered for them.”
According to him, intermediaries, who are engaged in wholesale and small-scale wholesale sales and don’t own oil depots or gas stations, shouldn’t participate in the above exchange trading.
“The reform is most likely to be implemented in this direction. Possibly, the exchange trading will also be divided into several sessions, so that large gas station networks and small networks with several gas stations will be able to trade separately, given the scale of the business,” Akhchulakov said.
“In general, this will allow gas stations to directly buy fuel and lubricants directly from resource holders through the exchange, but not from intermediaries. Accordingly, this will positively affect both the pricing policy and the issue of availability of resources,” concluded the minister.