BISHKEK (24.kg news agency) — Kyrgyzstan plans to reduce the rate of excise duty in order to reduce the cost of fuels and lubricants, the Minister of Economy Oleg Pankratov said today at a press conference.

According to him, the flow of illegal imports of petroleum products from Kazakhstan after the accession of Kyrgyzstan to the EEU has grown. We study the issue of reducing the excise tax. The current rate is 5,000 soms per ton. We plan to reduce it to 3,000. It is not known whether it will be temporary or permanent measure. The government will take the final decision.

Kyrgyzstan faces recurrent shortage of fuel resulting from that Kazakhstan delays fuel selectively: fuel tanks with similar shipping documents going through the territory of Kazakhstan to Tajikistan and Afghanistan, as well as those heading to Kyrgyzstan’s south are crossing the customs border in Shymkent Oblast in southern Kazakhstan with no delays.

According to Kyrgyzstan’s Association of Oil Traders, the railway shipments via Kazakhstan are the only source of fuel for Kyrgyzstan, and the delays at the border have cut the supplies creating a shortage of fuel in Kyrgyzstan.