Lieutenant Governor Presents Plan for a Refinery at Kochkor-Ata to Serve the Southern Districts
Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat told residents of Lower Naryn District that the government wants a second, smaller refinery at Kochkor-Ata to bring fuel closer to the southern districts. He described it as a plan to be studied, not a decision.
Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat on 23 October met local officials and residents of Lower Naryn District and set out the government's wish to build a second oil refinery at Kochkor-Ata, the Fergana rim market town of about 12,000 people.
The plant would process 450,000 tonnes a year, roughly 9,000 barrels a day, about a fifth of the 50,000 barrels a day handled by the Nurzhan Oil Refinery, Irad's only refinery. It would produce diesel, petrol and bitumen for the southern districts.
At present the southern districts receive their fuel from Nurzhan, about 600 km away by road and rail. Diesel sells at 6.10 som a litre at NurGaz stations and at 8.55 to 9.75 som a litre in the Chatkal villages, where it travels farthest.
"This is a plan to be studied, not a decision," the Lieutenant Governor told the meeting. The government intends to examine the proposal carefully and together with the people who live in the district. Investors and the timetable will be taken up as the study proceeds.
Alisher Kholmatov, head of the Lower Naryn District administration, said the district would offer officials' help with the study and with any questions from residents.
The proposal forms part of the government's work to bring investment and services to the districts outside the three cities, alongside the Nurzhan Compute Park and the Bazar-Korgon school programme. Further details will be presented to the cabinet once the study is complete.