Tuesday, June 12, 2012 -
Provinces in northern Kyrgyzstan have marked a significant decrease in fuel deliveries due to road regulations which block large fuel trucks from traveling on Kyrgyz highways, the president of the country’s Association of Oil Traders said on Tuesday.
Fuel deliveries to the north have seen a drop of 40 percent, Association of Oil Traders head Zhumakadyr Akeneev said at a Bishkek press conference.
The dropoff in fuel deliveries is a direct result of a new law passed May 10 by the Kyrgyz parliament which limits the use of Kyrgyz roads by heavy fuel trucks, Akeneev said.
“Traffic police started to completely stop all vehicles engaged in transportation of petroleum products,” the Knews.kg news agency reported Akeneev as saying.
“Shipments of petroleum products from north to south fell by 40 percent, and if this issue is resolved as quickly as possible, then there will be disruption to the delivery of fuel to service stations, which can lead to an increase in fuel prices,” he added, saying it could be a disaster for the country’s already fragile economy.
The legislation has also impeded the delivery of fuel to Centerra Gold’s Kyrgyz deposit Kumtor, a critical driver of the economy, Akeneev said.