Kazakh president orders sorting things out in petroleum products' exportation to neighbor countries

NUR-SULTAN. July 14 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has ordered the government to sort things out in the exportation of petroleum products to neighbor countries in order to prevent a diesel fuel deficit.

"The country may see a diesel fuel deficit in fall. The situation repeats itself year upon year, and every time this is happening during harvesting. The main argument of the government is that fuel is taken from our market by vehicles in transit and residents of border territories in neighbor countries. Yet the problem is a bit deeper than that: there are organized channels, streamlined over the years, to export domestic petroleum products to neighbor countries," Tokayev said at a government meeting on Thursday.

"The Financial Monitoring Agency should sort things out," he said.

"Give me the information as to who exactly is doing it. Then we will make a final decision," Tokayev said.

He also tasked the government and the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition with diversifying petroleum product prices for vehicles in transit and on the border perimeter.

"That will reduce the price disparity with neighbor countries and will not affect the prices paid by our citizens," Tokayev said.