Kazakhstan and Russia May Resume Oil Supply Cooperation

Kazakhstan could renew the inter-governmental agreement with Russia on trade and economic cooperation in oil and oil product supplies, Orda.kz reports.

The draft of the corresponding order was posted on the Open NPA portal on November 21 with a public discussion until December 5. It concerns extending the agreement with Russia signed in December 2010. Its term expired on January 1, 2024. 

The agreement stipulated that Russian oil products could be imported to Kazakhstan duty-free.

In October, the Ministry of Energy agreed to extend this supply regime with interested government agencies of Kazakhstan and received new proposals from the Russian side, namely the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, in November.

The amendments to the draft are conceptual in nature. According to preliminary information from the Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in this version, before the ratification of the protocol by the Russian side, taxes and fees may be applied to the supply of Russian fuels and lubricants to Kazakhstan, the explanatory note to the draft states.

The Ministry of Energy has amended the document proposed by the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan have already agreed upon its new version. 

The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Economy, and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan must also express their position on whether the agreement should be extended.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny