Fuel Smuggling Operation to Kyrgyzstan Busted by Kazakhstan's Financial Monitoring Agency

Kazakhstan's Financial Monitoring Agency has detained railroad tanks containing gasoline at Turksib station that were being illegally transported to Kyrgyzstan, Orda.kz reports.

According to the FMA, suspects purchased fuel in Kazakhstan using falsified documentation, disguising it as solvent and distillates before illegally exporting it out of the country.

During the operational search activities at the Turksib station, eight railway tank cars with AI-92 gasoline, shipped from the Kara May Oil mini-refinery, with a total volume of about 500 tons, were detained. The tank cars were heading to the Kyrgyz Republic, the agency clarified.

More than 102,000 tons of fuels and lubricants were illegally exported from this mini-refinery to the neighboring country throughout 2023-2024.

Preliminary investigations indicate the criminal group's shadow operations generated over 15.5 billion tenge (approximately $34.5 million) during the past two years.

Three Kazakh citizens have been placed on an interstate wanted list in connection with the illegal gasoline exports: Aleksey Popov (born 1987, from Taraz), Rakhymzhan Ibraimov (born 1996, from Uzbekistan), and Serik Sagyndykov (born 1987, from Jambyl region).

All three suspects have been arrested in absentia.

Just a day earlier, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy proposed extending the ban on petroleum product exports from the country, including to Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) states, for an additional six months.

This extension is due to widespread illegal fuel exports.

The original export ban was implemented following a sharp increase in AI-92 gasoline and diesel fuel consumption, as demand rose due to large quantities of fuel being smuggled across borders.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya