Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The same authorities have already imposed a “one-trip-per-day” rule, but now they are ramping up the crackdown.
Russian drivers are heading across the border into Kazakhstan in massive numbers—not to go on vacation or commute, but in search of fuel because prices at home are skyrocketing.
Officials have limited foreign vehicles to just one entry per day, and mobile teams are running round-the-clock patrols. Kazakhstan’s Interior Minister, Yerzhan Sadenov, said that officers have stopped nearly 600 illegal export attempts this year alone, The Moscow Times reported.
But it is not enough. To handle the wave of vehicles, the Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs has set up 59 police checkpoints along the border to stop people from smuggling petrol out of the country.
Officers are checking every vehicle. Forbes reported that the heaviest traffic is affecting the city of Uralsk, which is just 200 kilometres from the Russian city of Samara. Drivers from several Russian border regions are making the long journey because the price gap is significant.
Petrol in Kazakhstan costs around 45 rubles (0.59 USD) to 55 rubles per litre. In some areas of Russia, the cost is exceeding 90 rubles per litre.
Hidden fuel tanks
Some travellers are getting creative to bring back extra fuel. It is a risky gamble. Police have already found 255 vehicles with illegal extra fuel tanks welded inside them.
Authorities confiscated the custom tanks and fined 195 foreign nationals and 60 Kazakh citizens for the scheme.
The real trouble started after Ukrainian drone attacks hit several Russian oil refineries, causing major domestic shortages. One major strike hit the Omsk refinery. The facility produces 22 million tons of oil per year, making it the largest refinery in Russia.
Diplomatic fallout
Following the incident, Russian propaganda channels claimed Kazakhstan might have helped launch the drones. The accusation sparked an immediate diplomatic backlash.
The Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly rejected the claims. It called the reports “baseless insinuations” and stressed that it has never allowed its territory or infrastructure to be used against other nations.
