Kazakhstan intends to limit imports of Russian oil products in 2013
"We need to minimize the supplies of Russian fuel to Kazakhstan in order to reduce the volume of oil given away, do less calculations with the Russian Federation. In the absence of customs posts this can be done through appropriate regulations to limit imports from Russia. We are working on the draft of this document," Kulmurzin said.
"Most likely, the restrictions will be in effect until the end of the year", the head of the department added.
According to him, the supply constraints will be first of all related to low-octane grades of gasoline (80 octane), summer diesel fuel.
According to the Ministry of Oil and Gas, currently the share of import of Russian oil products in the domestic fuel market is 40%. In 2012, Kazakhstan imported from Russia 1.3 million tons of oil products.
In September 2012, Russia and Kazakhstan signed a protocol amending the agreement on the supply of oil and oil products. The protocol creates the conditions for duty-free oil supplies from Russia to Kazakhstan to meet the domestic needs of the country to the extent consistent with the approved indicative oil balance in the territories of the two states.
Source: primeminsiter.kz