Kyrgyzstan's Oil Traders Association asks to open access to Kazakhstan's petroleum products market

Almaty. August 19. Silkroadnews – Kyrgyzstan's Oil Traders Association asks to open access to Kazakhstan's petroleum products market, Kyrgyz media wrote.

«We can judge by 90 thousand tonnes reduction in imports resulted in 435 million som loss from our budget. The problem arose in 2015. We have repeatedly appealed to the government, which adopted a resolution to prevent smuggling, yet, the volume of illegal shipments did not reduce. The main reason is the difference in prices for petroleum products in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan», executive director of the association Ulan Kulov said at the meeting on the problems of the fuel market.

According to him, Kazakhstan's excise taxes and transportation tariffs are lower compared to ones of Kyrgyzstan. Besides, as U.Kulov noted, «tenge devaluation that happened simultaneously with Kyrgyztan's entry into the EEU also contributed to the whole situation».

«Our proposal is to reduce the excise tax and open access to the market of Kazakhstan. Official oil traders are not allowed to buy fuel products there, and illegal vendors take the most advantages of this», U.Kulov said.

With this he added no one can provide the exact numbers on smuggling.

The publications also noted, earlier Kyrgyz Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov held a meeting on discussion of fighting against undeclared import of consumer goods, particularly fuel products. Aibek Kadyraliyev, chairman of the State Service for Combating Economic Crimes, noted that fuel smuggling cannot be stopped on one's own.

S. Jeenbekov admitted, current legal framework for fight against undeclared import of petroleum products will not give results as long as the county does not abandon «the dark schemes».