ASTANA, May 21. /TASS/. Astana expects a reply from Kiev regarding attacks on the facilities of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Akan Rakhmetullin said.
"We have conveyed our concerns to Ukraine and we are waiting for a response. We keep reminding them about it - clearly, via the embassy. There has been no response so far. I don’t think a response will come in the near term," he pointed out, replying to a TASS question.
The CPC is a pipeline route for oil going from Kazakhstan to global markets via Russian territory; it is owned by a consortium of shareholders from Russia, the US and Kazakhstan. Ukrainian armed units attacked the CPC’s Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station on February 17. The facility suffered damage and was taken out of operation for repairs. The Kazakh Energy Ministry said then that oil pumping had resumed while bypassing the station.
On March 24, the Russian Defense Ministry reported more Ukrainian attacks on the CPC. A Ukrainian drone was shot down, with debris falling near a railway station. Rakhmetullin said on March 26 that Astana had conveyed its concerns to Kiev about the attack on the CPC.