The regular meeting of the Committee of the oil and gas industry of the Presidium of Atameken NCE of the Republic of Kazakhstan was chaired by Daniyar Abulgazin, Member of the Presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Asset Magauov, Director General of KAZENERGY Association reported on the current fulfillment of official instructions and on the current situation of the Association.
During the meeting, the issue of axial loads on fuel trucks and gas carriers was discussed. According to the current legislative provisions, it is prohibited to transport divisible load by vehicles the axial load of which is more than one ton. Vehicles carrying petroleum products just fall into this category. The representatives of carrier companies asked the Ministry of Investment and Development to provide preferences.
“First of all, we face a security issue since the “underload” of fuel trucks is unacceptable and may lead to the rollover of vehicles. As for the European countries, they prohibit to operate tank trucks loaded by less than 80% of cargo. Atameken is negotiating this issue with the authorized body and keeps the problem under control”, - Yeldos Ramazanov emphasized. By now, the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan is considering this problem from a different point of view, referring to the need of observing equal rights and opportunities for all businessmen in the country.
“By the Tax Code and depending on the axial overload, the average tariff is KZT 1000 per 1 km, the average distance from oil depot to the fuel filling station in the regions is 200 km and therefore KZT 200 000 should be paid per route, which greatly affects the profitability of fuel filing stations”, - Bolat Auyetayev, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Fuel Association, reported. In addition, currently the draft Law on Transport, in which it is proposed to toughen the requirements for transportation and to exclude the issuance of special permits for vehicles exceeding the axle load, is under consideration at the Mazhilis of the Parliament. The state agency proposes to expand the list of issued special permits and include vehicles carrying liquid cargo in tanks. The Kazakhstan Fuel Association proposes to take into account only the total mass, excluding the mass for each axle, when weighing gasoline trucks and gas carriers. “The Committee supports this proposal. It will reduce financial losses of fuel and gas filling stations and will cut the cost of special permits. The problem exists and we ask the National Chamber to control this issue and to provide support in the future”, - Daniyar Abulgazin noted. Summarizing, Mr. Abulgazin pointed out that security is a paramount issue today.
Also, during the meeting, the issue was raised about the repeal of the ban to sell low-alcohol beverages at fuel filling stations, which has been introduced in Kazakhstan since 2014. According to the initiators, alcohol is not a co-product necessary for vehicle operation and it is supposed that it creates additional factors for the use of alcohol by the drivers.
The members of Kazakhstan Fuel Association believe that the current ban bear no relation to the struggle for sobriety. Indeed, there is a full choice of alcohol in ordinary stores along the route and at roadside kiosks it is offered for bottling.
“After the introduction of the ban, not only the sales of alcohol, but also the sales of goods as a whole have fallen since it is profitable for the buyer to purchase all the goods in one place”, - Bolat Auyetayev noted. According to KFA, today the incomes from the sales of goods in the stores at filling stations are 10-15% profitable. By comparison, according to various estimates, in Europe, sales of non-fuel goods make up 60-70% of profit of filling stations. Thus with the appropriate implementation and support, the non-fuel business of the filling station chain can generate the same profit as the sales of fuel and lubricants, and even exceed the sales of the main product.
This approach allows European filling stations not to increase the marginal value of fuel and lubricants and restrain their price increase. In this regard, Atameken NCE of the Republic of Kazakhstan appealed to the Ministry of Finance with a proposal to consider the possibility of filling stations to sell low-alcohol beverages. “We should understand that the business itself is totally against drinking alcohol at the wheel. If desired, the driver will travel 200 meters further and buy alcohol in a nearby store. But then why do we limit filling stations if it has the same outlet equipped with a cash register and a terminal? The National Chamber supports business, today’s stores at filling stations are the full-fledged supermarkets selling consumer goods”, - Yeldos Ramazanov said.
“Perhaps, it makes sense to adopt the experience of developed countries, where they do not ban the sales of alcohol at filling stations but introduce temporary restrictions, price thresholds and other measures that do not affect business profitability”, - Daniyar Abulgazin suggested.
