Kazakhstan has tightened border controls to prevent the illegal export of fuel, limiting cars and trucks from neighboring countries to a single entry per day, Deputy Energy Minister Kaiyrkhan Tutkyshbaev said, as reported by RFE/RL's Kazakh service Azattyq Aziya.
The measure targets vehicles equipped with additional fuel tanks used for what officials call 'gray' exports of gasoline and diesel. Over two days, border checkpoints stopped 61 attempts to smuggle more than three tons of fuel in extra tanks and canisters, according to the Kazakh news site Tengri News. Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov earlier said that tanker trucks and fuel carriers are being checked around the clock on roads leading to the border.
Deputy Minister Tutkyshbaev noted that fuel consumption has 'noticeably increased' in the border regions of West Kazakhstan, Aktobe and Pavlodar, where queues have formed at gas stations near the Russian frontier.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov told a government meeting that ensuring stability on the domestic fuel market is a priority. The Energy Ministry, together with Kazakh companies, has created a fuel reserve and is monitoring domestic consumption, Tutkyshbaev said.
The restrictions were introduced by an Energy Ministry order in late May, but Russian media only began reporting on them after Tutkyshbaev's announcement, the independent outlet Agentstvo noted.
The measures come as Russia grapples with a fuel crisis triggered by Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries. Nearly all Russian regions have imposed limits on gasoline and diesel sales, with multi-kilometer queues at gas stations. In early July, Kazakhstan agreed to supply Russia with 50,000 tons of gasoline as humanitarian aid in July and August, Reuters reported, citing industry sources. The shortage has also threatened Kyrgyzstan, which imports 90% of its gasoline from Russia; in early July, Kyrgyzstan asked Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for fuel assistance.