Kyrgyzstan’s government has followed neighboring Kazakhstan in banning fuel exports to other countries in the Eurasian Economic Union, a Russia-led trade bloc consisting of five former Soviet states. The decision was announced on the Kyrgyz Cabinet’s website on July 13.
The ban is temporary and will remain in place “until the domestic market is saturated or common markets for oil and petroleum products are formed” within the Eurasian Economic Union. It applies to fuel exported by road or rail.
The government made exceptions for naphtha, fuel oil, and heating oil. Those products may be exported for processing abroad, but the finished products must be returned to Kyrgyzstan.
The Cabinet said the measure was intended to prevent shortages of petroleum products and protect the country’s energy security. Kyrgyzstan already had a ban on fuel exports outside the Eurasian Economic Union, but it had not applied to other members of the bloc. Kazakhstan has introduced a similar ban.
Fuel shortages have spread across Russia’s 11 time zones, resulting in rationing, long lines at gas stations, and record increases in gasoline prices. Russia has begun seaborne gasoline imports from India and has discussed fuel purchases from other countries to ease the shortage, Reuters reported.
Russia has also moved to prevent domestically produced petroleum products from being sold abroad, imposing a diesel export ban until July 31 (though shipments agreed to under existing government contracts, including with Mongolia, were exempted).
According to The Insider’s calculations, varying degrees of fuel sale restrictions are now in place in 88 of the 89 regions controlled by Russia.
