There is no preconditions for fuel prices raise or fuel crisis in Kazakhstan

There is no real basis for fuel crisis in Kazakhstan, as well as there are no reasons for fuel prices raise, Tengrinews.kz reports citing deputy director of the Center for Analysis of Social Problems Kanat Berentayev. “Kazakhstan and Russia are oil countries, so we can't say that we will have oil deficit. But petroleum and diesel prices raise is a different issue,” said Berentayev. Unavoidable and unreasonable fuel prices raise has already become a tradition. For example, fuel prices raise twice a year during sowing and harvesting seasons. “A sharp turnabout in prices is a deficiency of our pricing, or rather unwillingness to manage it when dealing with strategic goods, like fuel,” he stressed. Beretayev considers it a deceit when the state talks about impossibility to supply local oil refineries with its own oil and forced purchase of oil at the world prices. “Royalty once canceled in Kazakhstan might be a way out. Regular deductions to the seller for using the subject of license agreement can be done not only in monetary values but also by offloading oil to our refineries,” said the independent expert. However, this issue was never considered as it requires investments. As per Berentayev, fuel prices raise may cause further growth of prices of other strategic goods like grain and meat. That is why prices have to be stable and closely controlled by the state. Otherwise, sharp turnabouts will be “a threat for the national security.” Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov instructed Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev to control fuel supply across Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan Customs Brokers Association forecasted a sharp raise in fuel prices. Earlier Mynbayev talked about restraining fuel prices after the launch of the Common Economic Space and keeping them 13 percent lower than in Russia. By Zhuldyz Seisenbekova