Liquified petroleum gas to be sold based on local authorities' requests in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN, January 17. /TASS/. The Kazakh authorities have decided to sell liquified petroleum gas (LPG) on the basis of requests made by local governing bodies instead of via the electronic trading platform, which was the case earlier, the press service of the republic’s Prime Minister reported following the meeting of the cross-agency commission on the development of the oil and gas and energy sectors.

“It has been decided to sell liquified petroleum gas out of the electronic trading platform – through the plan of supplies to the domestic market on the basis of requests of local governing bodies. The rules for the formation of the plan on the supply of liquified petroleum gas to the domestic market have been amended, stipulating an expansion of the list of entities authorized to buy LPG outside of the electronic trading platform. Apart from petrochemical enterprises and group reservoir units (for daily needs) filling stations, gas supply pipeline networks, gas-filling units, gas-filling stations received this right,” the report said.

The energy ministry is authorized to distribute liquified petroleum gas on the domestic market outside the electronic trading platform for those new categories of entities. The administration of regions where over 150 CIS’ wholesale and retail sales entities operate, are authorized to develop their mechanisms of distributing LPG between such entities.

In December 2021 and January 2022 retail sellers purchased LPG at the electronic trading platform at wholesale market prices, the press service noted. On January 5, the price ceiling for retail sales of LPG was set. Depending on the region they totaled from 50 to 75 tenge (from $0.11 to $0.17) per liter.

Kazakh unrest

Protests broke out in various Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots and attacks against police and military personnel, with government buildings ransacked across several cities a few days later. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance, and as a result, peacekeepers were deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7. According to the General Prosecutor's Office, more than 4,500 people were injured in the insurrection, and the bodies of 225 of those killed were taken to morgues.