Dependence of Kazakhstan on Russian oil products may last till 2019

Kazakhstan may remain dependent on Russian oil products till 2019, a senior analyst of the Agency for Investment Profitability Research (AIPR) Artem Ustimenko said.

According to him, now more than one-third (1.36 million tons) of petrol, consumed in Kazakhstan, and about 14% (0.7 million tons) of diesel fuel fall on imports from Russia.

"The dependence on imports of Russian oil products will be seen until the completion of the modernization of domestic refineries in 2016, although these dates may be shifted to the 2018-2019," – the interlocutor stated. Ustimenko notes that the increase in gasoline prices in Kazakhstan was expected. "The increase of the marginal retail price of oil products became an anticipated forced step against the background of the increasing risk of a sustainable deficit on the domestic market of fuels and lubricants on certain categories of light vehicle fuel, especially high-octane gasoline," - the interlocutor says.