- The Russian delegation will come to Pakistan on January 20.
- Pakistan terminated the contract of Russian oil at concessional rates.
- The government says that the US will not impose sanctions on Pakistan for the proposed agreement.
The coalition government is pushing ahead with its plans to strike a much-anticipated deal on concessional rates for Russian crude as Minister of State for Petroleum Mossad Malik on Tuesday said a high-level delegation from Moscow would arrive in Islamabad on January 20. .
A day earlier, the minister said that Russia has agreed to supply crude oil as well as petrol and diesel to Pakistan at concessional rates. “Our visit to Russia turned out to be more productive than expected.”
In a statement, Malik claimed that the US would not impose sanctions on Pakistan for the proposed agreement.
Brushing aside former prime minister Imran Khan’s claims of alleged talks with Russia on oil imports, Malik took credit for the proposed deal and said minutes of his meetings with Moscow officials could substantiate his claims. .
Responding to a question about the financial crisis in the county, the minister said the government was not thinking of imposing an economic emergency. He said the government recently paid $1 billion for sukuk bonds.
He said that the country will not default.
Russia agrees to export petrol and diesel to Pakistan
A day earlier, Malik had said that Moscow had agreed to supply crude oil to Pakistan at subsidized rates.
Russia does not have liquefied natural gas (LNG), the country said. “Discussions are ongoing with Russian private firms to import LNG, while we have also engaged Russian state-owned LNG producers,” Malik said.
According to the Minister of State, significant progress has been made in the discussions on the pipeline projects with Moscow.
Last week, The News reported, citing sources, that a Pakistani delegation had requested a 30-40 percent discount on Russian crude during talks in Moscow, but the Russians said they could not offer anything at the moment because All volumes are banned.
During talks on gas pipeline projects, Moscow asked Pakistan to first honor its commitment to the flagship Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project from Karachi to Lahore, Punjab.
In response, the Pakistani team suggested changing the model of the PSGP project. The Russian side said that the model of the project under the GTG (Government-to-Government) arrangement has already been decided, except for some provisions of the shareholding agreement, which will be finalized soon.
Talking to reporters, Malik said that the country needs one percent additional energy to meet the demand.
To a question, he said the government would ensure uninterrupted gas supply to households during cooking hours. The minister said that more gas is being supplied to the domestic sector in December 2022 than last year.