OREANDA-NEWS  After a sharp rise in prices for gasoline and diesel fuel in Russia, traders began to export fuel from Kazakhstan to the border regions of Russia. This threatens the shortage of fuel, and the government intends to protect its fuel market.

But Astana has only two options - either to close the border with Russia, which is almost impossible within the EAEU, or to sharply increase the prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, but this can cause indignation of the population.

Due to the existing disparity in prices for gasoline and winter diesel fuel, according to analysts of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan and the company "KazMunaiGas", the export of cheaper Kazakh oil products to Russia began in November.

 "Today, if we compare the consumption of the Turkestan region and Shymkent, where 3 million people live together, and West Kazakhstan or Kustanai regions, where 700-800 thousand people live. The consumption of diesel fuel and gasoline in the last two is several times more than in the South,— said on November 15, Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev at a meeting held in Astana on pricing of petroleum products in the domestic market.— This means that diesel fuel and gasoline are leaking to neighboring markets, to Russia. Are taken out by heavy-load cars, trucks, establish to themselves additional tanks, there are facts of export by fuel trucks".

The meeting was attended by Kazakhstan's major retail gas station network "Helios", "KazMunaiGas Onimderi" and "Senol", collectively controlling about 60% of the market, but there were no representatives of "Gazpromneft-Kazakhstan", the market share of which is about 10%.

As explained in the Ministry of Energy, while there are not ready to give the final figures on the growth rate of oil consumption in the Northern, border with Russia areas, "but the trend is clearly visible, and this is especially true of diesel fuel."

On November 15, according to the Agency, the average price of a liter of gasoline AI-92 was 155.57 tenge (28.15 rubles.), AI-95/96 — 175.03 tenge (31.67 rubles), winter diesel fuel-195 tenge (35.28 rubles) at the rate of 5.55 tenge per ruble. "The difference in diesel fuel with Russia is about 50-60 tenge (9-10,9 rubles) per liter, and due to this, it is washed out of the country",— told in press Service of the Ministry of Energy Nurlybek Zhenisbek.