Fuel price surge raises costs for drivers, businesses and state budgets

September 10, 2026 at 09:35 AM3 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan rose sharply between December 2025 and September 2026, with AI-95 up 35 percent, diesel up 23.5 percent and AI-92 up 15.8 percent at one retail chain. The increase adds 1,200 soms monthly for a typical AI-92 driver and 5,700 soms per 1,000-km truck trip, while the state has paid about 1 billion soms in subsidies to cap retail prices. The National Bank of Kazakhstan warns the full indirect effect on inflation will appear in early 2027.

Key Facts

At one Kyrgyz retail chain, AI-92 rose from 75.9 to 87.9 soms per liter between 30 December 2025 and 2 September 2026, an increase of 15.8 percent.
AI-95 rose from 81.4 to 109.9 soms per liter, up 35 percent, and diesel from 80.9 to 99.9 soms, up 23.5 percent over the same period.
Kyrgyzstan's Antimonopoly Regulation Service reported on 19 August that oil traders had received about 1 billion soms in subsidies to restrain retail fuel prices.
A truck covering 1,000 km at 30 liters of diesel per 100 km faces an additional 5,700 soms per trip at the new diesel price.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan expects the main indirect effect of fuel price growth on inflation to appear in early 2027.

Price Increases

24.kg compared published prices at one retail chain and found AI-92 rose from 75.9 soms per liter on 30 December 2025 to 87.9 soms on 2 September 2026, an increase of 15.8 percent. AI-95 climbed from 81.4 to 109.9 soms, up 35 percent, while diesel went from 80.9 to 99.9 soms, up 23.5 percent. The comparison covers a single network and is not a national average.

Cost Burden

A driver covering 1,000 km per month at 10 liters per 100 km pays an extra 1,200 soms monthly for AI-92, or 14,400 soms per year if the price gap persists. For a vehicle on AI-95, the additional cost reaches 2,850 soms per month. A truck on a 1,000-km route consuming 300 liters of diesel sees fuel costs rise from 24,270 to 29,970 soms, a difference of 5,700 soms per trip. For a 20-tonne load, that adds 28.5 tyiyn per kilogram of cargo, with higher per-kilogram costs when the truck is not fully loaded.

Inflation Outlook

The National Bank of Kazakhstan said in its August report that fuel prices are changing gradually after the moratorium ended, as part of phased market liberalization. The regulator expects the current annual pace of fuel price growth to continue until the end of 2026 and has revised its expectations upward compared with the previous forecast. It believes the main indirect effect on inflation will appear in early 2027, as higher transport and production costs feed into prices for goods and services. In August, non-food goods in Kazakhstan rose 11.4 percent year-on-year, and the central bank says fuel affects prices both directly and through logistics costs. Under its baseline forecast, fuel price growth should gradually return to the 5 percent inflation target in 2027–2028, but the regulator cites uncertainty from external oil product markets and a regional fuel crisis.