Kazakhstan moves to stop ‘gray’ fuel exports — border agents are tracking vehicles fitted with extra fuel tanks
Kazakhstan is moving to stop the illegal export of fuel across its borders as neighboring Russia faces a shortage of gasoline and diesel, the Kazakh news outlet TengriNews reported.
At a briefing, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Energy Minister Kaiyrkhan Tutkyshbayev said authorities were focused on identifying vehicles fitted with additional fuel tanks being used to smuggle fuel out of the country.
Government data as of July 7 showed that border checkpoints had stopped 61 attempts over just two days to export more than three tons of fuel in additional tanks and canisters.
Kazakhstan has restricted the entry of passenger and freight vehicles “from neighboring states” to no more than once per day for more than a month.
Tutkyshbayev did not explain what prompted the authorities to act against the “gray” export of fuel. The TengriNews report makes no mention of Russia’s fuel crisis, though readers in the comments write about Russians buying up gasoline in border areas.
Kazakhstan is the largest fuel producer in Central Asia. However, the country had been purchasing significant volumes of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia to cover a shortfall in the domestic market.
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