Fuel at discounted rate: Russian team to visit Pakistan on Jan 20, says senior minister

A high-level Russian delegation will visit Pakistan on January 20 after Moscow agreed to provide the cash-strapped country with crude oil as well as petrol and diesel at discounted rates, a senior minister said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Russia decided to provide crude oil at discounted rates to Pakistan, as Islamabad battles to contain a current account deficit swelled by energy payments, mostly for oil.

The coalition government is moving ahead with its plans to strike a much-anticipated deal for Russian crude oil at a discounted rate as Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik on Tuesday said that a high-level delegation from Moscow will arrive in Islamabad on January 20, Geo News reported.

A day earlier, he said, ''Our visit to Russia turned out to be more productive than expected.'' The development comes a month after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan is exploring the possibility of buying discounted Russian oil on the lines of India.

Pakistan is struggling to meet domestic gas supply needs as winter approaches and is under pressure to explore cheaper energy supplies due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves. It is battling to contain a current account deficit swelled by energy payments, mostly for oil.

In a statement, Malik claimed that the US will not impose sanctions on Pakistan for the proposed deal, the report added.

Brushing aside claims of former prime minister Imran Khan about his alleged talks with Russia on oil import, Malik took credit for the proposed deal and said that the minutes of their meetings with Mosco officials can prove their claims.

Responding to a question about the financial crisis in the county, the minister said that the government is not deliberating on imposing any economic emergency. He maintained that the government recently paid USD 1 billion for Sukuk bonds, the report added.

He maintained that the country would not default.

India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been snapping Russian oil that was available at a discount after some countries in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

From a market share of just 0.2 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's imports rose to 4.24 million tonnes, or nearly 1 million barrels per day, in October, taking a 21 per cent share comparable to that of Iraq and higher than Saudi Arabia's share of around 15 per cent.

Ahead of the EU restrictions on Russian oil, India had said it will continue to buy crude oil from anywhere in the world, including Russia, to meet its energy needs.