Astana, 19 October. The Energy Ministry has drafted an order that would exclude petroleum bitumen from the ban on exports outside the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union; the document has been posted on the Open Regulatory Acts portal and public discussion will run until 4 November (Informburo, LS).
Bitumen is a viscous oil refining product used to make asphalt. The ministry explains the initiative by seasonal demand for road bitumen, available production capacity and the need to keep refineries steadily loaded. "Adoption of the draft order will make it possible to export surplus volumes of road bitumen outside the customs territory of the EAEU in the off-season," the justification says (LS).
The draft amends the energy minister's order No. 175-n/k of 30 April and concerns petroleum bitumen with commodity code 2713 20 000 0 (Informburo, BES.media).
Background: In February the Energy Ministry planned to ban bitumen exports in 2026 (Zakon.kz), and the ban on exporting petroleum products outside the EAEU was already extended in 2024 until the end of 2026 (Zakon.kz).
List of sources used: Informburo, LS, BES.media, Zakon.kz, Zakon.kz
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
