ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani government has formally contacted authorities inRussian to buy cheap oil and gas as prices of these commodities in theSouth Asian country has surged to a record level.
The development comes a month after Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar saidthat that the government was considering an option to import oil fromRussia.
“If India can buy oil from Russia, why can’t we. We can also import it,”Dar had said while addressing the Chartered Accountant AssociationConference on October 19.
Days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Russian President VladmirPutin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) inSamarkand in September, reports had also emerged that Moscow had expressedreadiness to supply petrol to Pakistan on deferred payments.
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In latest development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Petroleum havewritten to the Russia, expressing its interest in procurement of oil andgas from it.
A team of Pakistani officials would visit Russian after it receives aninvitation from Moscow. Officials said that an agreement with Russia willbe made keeping in view the public interest, adding that no any violationof global treaty will be made in this process.
