Kazaks Complain of Unfair Ship Tariffs
Kazaks Complain of Unfair Ship Tariffs
Kazakstan should invest in its own ports rather than retaliate against
its Caspian competitors' imposition of higher tariffs on Kazak ships
using their ports, say NBCentralAsia experts.
Uzakbai Karabalin, head of the national oil and gas company
KazMunaiGas, announced on February 13 that "discriminatory tariffs"
were applied to Kazak ships by Russian and Azerbaijani ports in the
Caspian Sea.
Kazakstan's biggest shipping company is Kazmortransflot, half of which
is owned by KazMunaiGas.
According to Karabaldin, Kazmortransflot's ships from Kazakstan pay
36,000 US dollars to dock in Baku, while similar Azerbaijani vessels
pay 12,500 dollars to dock in the Kazak port of Aktau.
He has also noted that in contrast to other Caspian countries,
Kazakstan charges Kazak ships the same as it levies foreign ones - but
he believes that tariff policy should be more favourable towards
Kazmortransflot to make it more competitive on international markets.
But analyst Kanat Berentaev, a fellow of the Almaty-based Centre for
the Analysis of Public Issues, says that while raising foreign ship
tariffs may make Kazmortransflot more competitive, it could increase
costs for Kazak oil exporters.
"Currently, Kazmortransflot transports only a half of Kazak oil
exports, all the rest is transported by foreign ships...therefore,
increasing tariffs on foreign ship services
will lead to a rise in oil transportation costs which will decrease
the income of domestic oil companies," he said.
Professor Nadir Nadirov, general director of Kazak scientific and
research centre, Oil, suggests that differences in tariff charges in
Caspian ports should depend on how well developed they are.
Aktau port is considered to be new and relatively quiet, while Baku is
bigger and serves more ships. Nadirov suggests that
Aktau should improve its infrastructure to attract more ships before
it begins to review its tariff policy.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad
range of political observers across the region.)
its Caspian competitors' imposition of higher tariffs on Kazak ships
using their ports, say NBCentralAsia experts.
Uzakbai Karabalin, head of the national oil and gas company
KazMunaiGas, announced on February 13 that "discriminatory tariffs"
were applied to Kazak ships by Russian and Azerbaijani ports in the
Caspian Sea.
Kazakstan's biggest shipping company is Kazmortransflot, half of which
is owned by KazMunaiGas.
According to Karabaldin, Kazmortransflot's ships from Kazakstan pay
36,000 US dollars to dock in Baku, while similar Azerbaijani vessels
pay 12,500 dollars to dock in the Kazak port of Aktau.
He has also noted that in contrast to other Caspian countries,
Kazakstan charges Kazak ships the same as it levies foreign ones - but
he believes that tariff policy should be more favourable towards
Kazmortransflot to make it more competitive on international markets.
But analyst Kanat Berentaev, a fellow of the Almaty-based Centre for
the Analysis of Public Issues, says that while raising foreign ship
tariffs may make Kazmortransflot more competitive, it could increase
costs for Kazak oil exporters.
"Currently, Kazmortransflot transports only a half of Kazak oil
exports, all the rest is transported by foreign ships...therefore,
increasing tariffs on foreign ship services
will lead to a rise in oil transportation costs which will decrease
the income of domestic oil companies," he said.
Professor Nadir Nadirov, general director of Kazak scientific and
research centre, Oil, suggests that differences in tariff charges in
Caspian ports should depend on how well developed they are.
Aktau port is considered to be new and relatively quiet, while Baku is
bigger and serves more ships. Nadirov suggests that
Aktau should improve its infrastructure to attract more ships before
it begins to review its tariff policy.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad
range of political observers across the region.)
