[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]Musadik Malik, Minister of State for Petroleum, stated that the government will place its first order for Russian crude next month, with the commodity arriving in Pakistan in four weeks.
Last year, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that the country was considering purchasing discounted Russian oil, pointing out that neighbouring India had been purchasing oil from Moscow and that Islamabad had the right to investigate the possibility.
Following that, Malik flew to Moscow for talks on issues such as oil and gas supplies, following which the government announced that it would purchase discounted crude oil, petrol, and diesel from Russia.
A Russian delegation arrived in Islamabad in January 2023 to finalise the agreement. The countries agreed during the three-day meeting to address all technical issues — insurance, transportation, and payment mechanisms — in order to sign an agreement by late March of this year.
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After agreement on technical specifications is reached, the oil and petrol trade transaction will be structured in such a way that both countries benefit economically,” the two sides stated in a joint statement at the time.
Malik told a TV channel on Saturday night that a number of agreements had been reached with Russia and that Pakistan would place an order next month.
“However, the oil will take some time to reach Pakistan… “It will take about 26 to 27 days,” he said, revealing that the commodity will arrive in the country by sea.
Malik also clarified that Russia had assured the government that it would give Pakistan the same discount as any other neighbouring country.
In response to the government’s decision to implement separate petrol tariffs for the rich and poor, the minister stated that the mechanism was designed on the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.
“So we divided the country’s population into rich and poor… So, if a poor woman uses one unit of petrol, she will pay one-fourth of the bills that a woman in F-7 or Gulberg pays,” he explained.
Malik explained that the rich and poor would be distinguished by their use of petrol, which remains constant for the rich but decreases for the poor during the winter months of November to March.
In Pakistan, 60% of the population is poor, and for them, we have either reduced or maintained the previous petrol tariff.”
He went on to say that the same was true of the petroleum subsidy.
“Under it, the rich will pay Rs300 for petrol and the poor will pay Rs200 for the commodity.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
