Pakistan pays for Russian crude shipment in yuan

Pakistan paid for its first cargo of Russian crude oil in Chinese yuan, Pakistan's petroleum minister said Monday, marking a significant shift in its US dollar-dominated export payments policy, Reuters reported.

The first first government-to-government import of Russian crude oil arranged under a new deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow arrived in Karachi on Sunday. It is currently being offloaded at the port.

"We have run iterations of various product mixes, and in no scenario will the refining of this crude make a loss," Malik said, without disclosing details of the deal with Russia.

"We are very sure it will be commercially viable," he added.

Russia announced in January "conceptual agreements" to supply Russian oil and petroleum products to Pakistan. Islamabad expects future imports from Russia to meet up to 35% of its crude oil needs.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said Monday that negotiations between Russia and Pakistan on launching a joint oil project are at the final stage.