The Russian energy ministry has refuted claims that it sought Kazakhstan’s assistance in establishing a gasoline reserve for potential supplies to Russia. Dismissing a report by Reuters, the ministry clarified on Tuesday that it had not made any such request to Kazakhstan.
According to three industry sources cited by Reuters, Russia allegedly approached Kazakhstan to be prepared to provide 100,000 tons of gasoline in the event of shortages exacerbated by Ukrainian drone attacks and outages.
In response to these claims, the Russian energy ministry stated, “The Russian energy ministry has not approached Kazakhstan with a request to set up a reserve or supply motor gasoline to the Russian domestic market.” The ministry emphasized that Russia maintains the capability to export up to 285,000 tons of gasoline annually to Kazakhstan, even amidst restrictions on gasoline exports from Russia.
Furthermore, the ministry assured that the domestic gasoline market in Russia is adequately supplied, with existing inventories deemed sufficient to meet the growing demand within the country.