Kazakhstan raises LPG price ceiling
ASTANA. July 26 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan has raised the ceiling on the domestic wholesale price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to 23,106.45 tenge per tonne, the Energy Ministry reported.
The new price ceiling was approved by the ministry on July 5 and remains in effect until September 30, 2016.
The previous wholesale price ceiling - 11.033.91 tenge per tonne since February 2015 - was just a fraction of LPG prices in neighboring countries, creating a disincentive for producers to deliver to the domestic market. The price of LPG in Tajikistan, for example, is the equivalent of 104,864 tenge per tonne.
The Kazakh domestic price ceiling has been raised to ensure stable supplied to the domestic market, and to minimize losses at production facilities.
At the same time, the Energy Ministry has recommended that the regional administrations, the Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies and Protection of Competition and the Finance Ministry's State Revenue Committee, take the necessary measures to prevent growth in retail prices for LPG for the domestic market.
Under the Law on Gas and Gas Supply, the nationwide LPG price ceiling on the wholesale domestic market is set by the Energy Ministry.
The official exchange rate on July 26 was 343.88 tenge/$1.
