Contrary to the government’s claim of having successful negotiations with Moscow regarding the discounted crude oil sale to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has claimed that Pakistan was not “pursuing or receiving discounted energy” from Russia.
Earlier this month, a high-level Pakistani delegation, led by Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik, held talks with Moscow in which the Pakistani delegation sought a 30-40% discount on Russian crude oil.
Later, when the delegation returned to Pakistan, Musadik Malik claimed that Russia had agreed to provide crude oil as well as petrol and diesel to Pakistan at discounted rates.
However, this claim was busted by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who denied such reports.
“We are facing an extremely difficult economic situation, inflation, pump prices. We do have energy insecurity and we are exploring various avenues to expand the areas where we can get energy from. Any energy we receive from Russia will take a long time for us to develop,” Bilawal said while speaking to an international news agency.
