A Russian energy firm, Inteco Group, has finalized a landmark agreement with the Taliban to extract oil in Afghanistan. The deal was signed during the Russia–Islamic World Economic Forum held recently in Kazan, Russia, according to Amu.
The agreement was inked by Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s acting minister of industry and commerce, alongside representatives from Inteco Group.
“The cooperation agreement was signed at the Russia–Islamic World forum in Kazan,” Azizi stated.
Rustam Khabibullin, head of the Russian Trade Center in Afghanistan, stated that Inteco Group has already conducted geological surveys in Afghanistan and is prepared to begin drilling operations. The contract also envisions the construction of an oil refinery, complete with necessary infrastructure, marking a significant development for Afghanistan’s energy sector.
“This is the first agreement of its kind,” Khabibullin said, underscoring the strategic importance of the deal for both parties.
In addition to the oil extraction agreement, the Taliban and Russian officials signed five other memorandums of understanding (MoUs) at the forum. These cover cooperation in areas including transportation, aviation, commerce, and gas exploration.
On the sidelines of the 16th Kazan Forum in Tatarstan, Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Alexey Overchuk met with Afghan Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to sign these agreements. The MoUs focus on transport and transit, expansion of trade relations between chambers of commerce, cooperation in oil and gas exploration and refining, development of regional trade, and establishing an industrial-logistical complex.
Neither party disclosed the financial terms of the oil extraction contract or detailed projections for the scale of production and refining.
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