Abylkair Skakov proposed to approve uniform rules for determining suppliers of cheaper fuel and lubricants

Abylkair Skakov proposed to approve uniform rules for determining suppliers of cheaper fuel and lubricants

The activities of operators supplying cheaper fuel to agricultural producers must be regulated throughout the country. This and other proposals related to the circulation of oil products, the akim of Pavlodar region announced at a meeting with the participation of the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Magzum Mirzagaliyev, the management of KazMunayGas JSC and representatives of domestic oil refineries.

The working meeting was held on the basis of the Pavlodar petrochemical plant. The parties discussed the situation on the oil and oil products market. Speaking at the meeting, Abylkair Skakov recalled that today in Kazakhstan there is no approved mechanism for selecting operators who supply fuel to agricultural producers for spring and autumn field work. This year, 21 thousand tons of cheaper fuels and lubricants were allocated for haymaking and harvesting campaigns in Pavlodar region alone, covering the need of farmers in fuel by 75-80%.

- This is a serious amount of fuel, however, in Kazakhstan there are no uniform rules for determining operators for the supply of cheaper fuel and lubricants and control of their activities for the delivery of fuel to the fields, - said the head of the region. “Therefore, we have independently developed a mechanism for selecting suppliers. Having introduced a point system, we opted for three operators. At the same time, we believe that these rules should be uniform throughout the country and approved at the level of the Ministry of Energy. We are ready to make our proposals on this issue.

Abylkair Skakov also said about the imperfection of the liquefied gas supply system. Today it belongs to exchange commodities. As a result, it turned out that Pavlodar farmers, who mainly use gas-powered grain drying equipment, were almost left without the necessary fuel. As it turned out, the lion's share of it was bought in other regions of the country.

“We turned to the Ministry of Energy for help and they helped us in time by organizing the transfer of the required amount of gas from the field in Western Kazakhstan,” the akim emphasized. “Otherwise, the harvest of our peasants could simply rot. Therefore, I believe that in the future, the rules for the purchase of liquefied gas need to be revised or the system for its implementation should be made more transparent.

The head of the region also dwelled on the issues of management and forecasting of oil product reserves. According to him, having data on their volumes, it was not possible to foresee the potential shortage of fuel. Therefore, in his opinion, more attention should be paid to the formation of fuel reserves.

- The shortage of diesel fuel was compounded by the situation associated with the shutdown of our petrochemical plant for repairs, which required a revision of the standards for reserves of oil products, continued Abylkair Skakov. - I must say that along with the shortage of diesel fuel, we faced a sharp shortage of bitumen. Because of this, our road workers suspended their work, although the weather conditions this year made it possible to continue the road campaign in late autumn.

The head of the region proposed to amend the legislation for the end-to-end accounting of the entire "oil chain", starting with the production of petroleum products and ending with their market sale. This would, according to the akim of Pavlodar region, significantly reduce the risk of fuel shortages.

In addition, Abylkair Skakov asked the Ministry of Energy and KazMunayGas JSC to provide in advance the correct data on the volume of oil refining and the timing of repair work of technological equipment of the Pavlodar petrochemical plant. Then the local authorities will be able to more efficiently plan the revenue part of the Pavlodar budget, which is 46% of revenue from excise taxes on fuel. This, according to the head of the region, is primarily necessary to fulfill the social obligations of the budget.

Speaking about the situation on the fuel market, Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev noted that domestic enterprises did not cope with the task of providing the domestic market with diesel and aviation fuel. One of the main reasons for this was ineffective planning of repairs.

“Despite the modernization of production facilities, factories regularly stop for repairs at the most inopportune moment,” said the head of the Ministry of Energy. “With growing consumption, annual shutdowns of 25 days are an unaffordable luxury. I believe that the current repair work regulations are outdated. Only one plant per year should be shut down for major repairs. I instruct the management of KazMunayGas JSC to develop a new plan for the next 5 years.

During his working trip to Pavlodar region, Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev also visited other energy enterprises. He visited TPP-3, which is part of Pavlodarenergo JSC, and Ekibastuz GRES-1 named after Nurzhanov.

 

Press service of the akim of Pavlodar region

Photo by Valery Bugaev