Kazakhstan moves closer to common customs union oil market
Kazakh legislators at the plenary session on Wednesday passed the draft of the law on ratification of the agreement to establish a common oil and oil products market within the customs union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, Kazakhstan Today reports.
Almaty. March 31. Kazakhstan Today - Kazakh legislators at the plenary session on Wednesday passed the draft of the law on ratification of the agreement to establish a common oil and oil products market within the customs union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, Kazakhstan Today reports.
Kazakh legislators on Wednesday approved an agreement to establish a common oil and oil products market within the customs union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, Centralasiannewswire reported.
Kazakhstan's lower house of parliament gave the go-ahead to a deal signed by the three customs union nations late last year, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
"The goal of the agreement is to establish major principles and events aimed at forming common oil and oil products markets among the participants in the common economic space, as well as developing competition on these markets," the news agency quoted Kazakh Minister for Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev as telling parliamentarians on Wednesday.
According to the terms of the tripartite agreement forged in Moscow last December, the customs union members will trade unrestricted amounts of oil and its products between members free from export duties.
The agreement will enter Kazakh law after it has been ratified by the upper house of parliament and signed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Kazakh lawmakers also approved an agreement on setting up market gas prices across the economic area.
"Gas prices will be comparable in Russia and Kazakhstan," the Trend news agency reported Mynbayev as telling journalists on Wednesday.
"Russia is a big country, where 60 price zones exist. Thus, the gas price is $59 per 1,000 cubic meters in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, while the figure is $150 per 1,000 cubic meters and above in other regions," he said, adding that Kazakhstan will sell its gas at a level comparable with the minimum price in Russia.
The customs union came into being in July 2010 with ratification of the Customs Code by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The next stage of integration takes place next July 1 when the three remove customs borders opening their common territory to the free movement of goods, services and labor.
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