ISLAMABAD   -   Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik, rejecting the formers prime minister Imran Khan’s claim of getting oil from Russia at a 30pc cheaper price, said that there is no such document or memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the claim.

“We have also checked it through our ambassador, but no such agreement existed nor positive reply was received from Russia, which can confirm that the PTI government was going to purchase petroleum products at 30pc lower prices,” Dr Musadik Malik said while addressing a press conference here on Friday.

He said that the ex-petroleum minister had written to the Russian counterpart that we want to do trade in all sectors including the energy sector and also sought the lower price oil, but it did not receive a reply.

The minister further said that there is no such document, no such intent or a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to prove that they had made any breakthrough in this regard.

Similarly Dr Musadik claimed that the previous government’s decision of reducing petroleum prices by Rs10/litre and capping them till end-June 2022 had no documentary evidence, as there is no approval from the ECC or the cabinet available, and was merely a verbal decision.