Fuel prices decreased 12 percent for sowing campaign

Kazakhstan Minister of Agriculture reported on preparation for the sowing season at the selector meeting in the government, Tengrinews.kz reports. "360 thousand tons of cheap fuel has been allocated. It is 10-12 percent cheaper than at the market. Agricultural Ministry and the Ministry of Oil and Gas are working on schemes of supply of diesel fuel under approved supply schedules from refineries to fuel operators in the rural areas. An similar scheme was implemented last year. This year this work is performed much better," Mamytbekov said. "As of March 13, we paid for 32 thousand tons out of 91 thousand planned for March. This is 36 percent. 14.9 thousand tons have already been dispatched to the farmers. This is 16.5 percent. Oblast administrations were instructed to take measures to ensure timely payment by oblast operators to refineries for the allocated volumes of diesel fuel. As the refineries have problems with storing produced fuel, it needs to be shipped off on time, especially since the price is low," he added. 95.8 billion tenge ($647.3 million) will be spent on the sowing campaign this year. All the oblasts have confirmed that they are provided with seeds, Agriculture Minister said. Besides, all the equipment is ready as well. Over 2,000 vehicles will be involved in the sowing campaign. The Minister assured that preparation to the sowing campaign goes as planned.