Officials in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries of Afghanistan announced a fuel purchase agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran in a bid to control the increasing fuel prices in Afghanistan.

Islamic Republic of Iran will provide around 1 ton fuel to Afghanistan during the next one year.

This comes as the fuel prices including gas and benzene oil dramatically increased recently in Afghanistan.

In the meantime, Afghan government signed separate fuel purchase agreements with the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan in an effort to reduce the prices in Afghanistan.

Officials in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries of Afghanistan said that fuel import agreement with the Iran will prove to be beneficial for Afghanistan due to short transit routes between the two nations.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce and Industries of Afghanistan Wahidullah Ghazi Khel said, one of the main factors of higher fuel prices in Afghanistan is the higher transportation cost. Afghanistan pays around $250 to $300 as a transportation cost for 1 ton of fuel purchased from Uzbekistan, Turkemenistan and Russia.

Mr. Ghazi Khel further added, the government of Iran has agreed to hand over fuel at Esfahan, Mashhad and Rafsanjan in order to cut the transportation costs.

He also accused the private sector for charging more interests which affects the fuel prices in Afghanistan.

The ministry officials also warned to cancel the licenses of the companies who ignore the standard fuel prices.

Author


  • Ahmad Shah Ghani Zada is the former Senior Editor of Khaama Press Agency who managed and overlooked the English edition. He is occasionally contributing stories to the agency.