Pakistan pays for first batch of Russian oil in Chinese currency — agency
ISLAMABAD, June 12. /TASS/. Pakistan has paid for its first batch of Russian oil, which arrived in the port of Karachi on Saturday, in Chinese currency, Reuters said on Monday, citing Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik.
According to the agency, the Pakistani minister spoke with it over the phone. He did not disclose any details of the deal, such as supplies volume and their cost, saying only that "in no scenario will the refining of this crude make a loss."
"We are very sure it will be commercially viable," he was quoted as saying.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on his Twitter account on June 11 that the first batch of Russian discounted crude arrived in Karachi.
In his video address to Pakistani nationals on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which was posted by the Russian foreign ministry on its website on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Pakistan are closely cooperating in the fight against security threats, expanding bilateral trade and implementing agreements on the project for cooperation in the oil sector.
In January, the two countries’ governments reached a conceptual agreement on Russian oil supplies and agreed to coordinate logistics, insurance, and payment issues before they begin. Pakistan anticipates that imports of Russian oil will satisfy up to 35% of its demand. The Dawn newspaper said on May 31, citing Minister Malik, that ships with Russian oil had arrived in Oman and would reach Pakistan in a week.
