Pak-Russia oil deal soon, says Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD (NNI): Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has listed the coalition government’s feats in resolving the oil-related issues to cope with the challenges the country has been facing. Addressing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz workers in Dubai, he said during his visit to the US last month, he met the figures and take up the issue of oil purchase from Russia. He said he told the American authorities that Washington could not refrain from buying the commodity from Russia because neighbouring India has also been doing the same.
The US officials said they are set to build a G7 platform to fix the Russian oil purchase rate, he added. The finance minister said it will soon be possible to buy oil from Russia under the terms set by Delhi. He said Pakistan has strong ties with Saudi Arabia, China and UAE and during this visit, he had important meetings with UAE officials. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia, will bear fruit soon.
Ishaq Dar told the workers that the overall result of the meetings is that Saudi Arabia will set up a refinery in Gwadar in Pakistan. This project was started in October 2015, but due to the political crisis, it hit snags, the minister recalled, adding that this is all set to resume now.