Russia and Afghanistan Plan to Build Logistics Center For Oil Transit to South Asia

Afghanistan plans to launch talks with Russia on a logistics center in the Afghan province of Herat, which, among other things, will facilitate exports of Russian oil to South Asia, acting Afghan Minister of Industry and Trade Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Sputnik.

"We would like to launch negotiations on the matter so that part of the transit of Russian oil passes through the territory of Afghanistan - it is the shortest route," Azizi said on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum "Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum" in the Russian city of Kazan.

He added that Kabul already has a program for the construction of a similar logistic center with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan with the participation of Afghanistan's private sector.

Afghanistan has increased the imports of petroleum products from Russia, but in 2023 certain restrictions occurred, and Kabul expects that they will no longer be in place, Azizi said.

"We had agreements [with Russia], we launched an oil purchase program, the private sector also became more active, after which oil supplies to Afghanistan began. Unfortunately, Russia restricted oil exports to Afghanistan last year," Azizi said on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum "Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum" in Tatarstan's capital city of Kazan.

Azizi added that Afghanistan needs about 4 million tonnes of petroleum products and oil per year.

Afghanistan signs short-term contracts with Russian companies for the supply of petroleum products and oil, which are then renegotiated, the official explained.

On May 14, the 'Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum' kicked off in the capital of the Tatarstan region. The event takes place on May 14-19 and will tackle different areas in multinational cooperation, seeking to deepen the ties between the Russian and Islamic civilizations.