File photo of Minister of State Musadik Malik, courtesy PID
Russia has reportedly refused to grant Pakistan a discount of 30-40 percent on the import of crude oil, saying all its existing volumes have already been committed.
A Pakistani delegation comprising State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik, the joint secretary and officials of the Pakistan Embassy in Russia met Russian authorities in Moscow earlier this week and requested a discount on par with that given to India and China for the import of crude oil. While the talks failed to reach any favorable conclusion, Russian officials assured the delegation that they would consider the demand and share any updates via diplomatic channels.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several Western states halted imports of fuel from the European nation in a bid to prevent its crude oil revenue from being used to fund the war. Resultantly, Moscow offered deep discounts to various states—particularly India and China—to shore up its revenue stream. No formal offer was made to Pakistan, but ousted prime minister Imran Khan used Islamabad’s failure to secure cheaper fuel as “evidence” of his widely-debunked “foreign regime change conspiracy.”
The incumbent government, however, has maintained that it has no issue with importing fuel from Russia—so long as it doesn’t attract sanctions from Western states. In recent months, the U.S. State Department has clarified that it has no concerns with Pakistan importing oil from Russia, suggesting the threat of sanctions has reduced.
According to local media, the Russian delegation said it would expedite Pakistan’s request once Islamabad had honored its commitment to the flagship project of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP)—set to be laid down from Karachi to Lahore. In response, Pakistan voiced a desire to change the model of the project, which Russia deferred, noting it was already inked through a government-to-government arrangement and would soon be finalized.