With the number of Pyongyang residents
running gas stoves at home ticking up, more individual vendors who provide gas
delivery and installation services have been cropping up. Many people rely on
private gas vendors who bring the supply right to their doors, not being able
to receive gas from the state, Daily NK has learned.
“There are not a lot of people who use gas
because the state has vastly curtailed its supply, but recently, donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More [new
affluent middle class] and other individuals have been investing in gas
stoves,” a Pyongyang source currently in Sinuiju told Daily NK on Wednesday.
“Inside the west Pyongyang state gas warehouse, there aren’t a lot of LPG
tanks, but individually run storage areas are overflowing with both domestic gas tanks and those from China.”
The state supplies enough gas to support approximately 20% of the capital’s population, but cadres who control the
supply sell it off to market vendors and make money off the illicit trade,” the
source said, explaining that these cadres and vendors work together, selling
gas in wholesale.
“Black markets for gas in Pyongyang exist
almost in every neighborhood in the area around West Pyongyang, so all you need
to do is place a phone call, and they’ll deliver it right to your front door,”
explained the source. “The container for the gas is sold at a separate price,
so when customers only request a gas refill, the vendors take back the empty
container.”
The gas sold in Pyongyang’s black markets
is supplied in 5kg, 15kg, or 20kg tanks, and it is propane or butane gas
produced at the Bonghwa chemicals factory in North Pyongan Province’s Baekma
County. By the time the supply enters Pyongyang, half of the tank car
transported via railway has been sold off to the market, according to the source.
The Bonghwa factory typically supplies 60
tons of butane and propane gas to Pyongyang after going through Namheung Youth
Chemicals Factory in Anju. This is why there are myriad illicit gas markets
around Baekma County and Anju in South Pyongan Province. Being the producer in
the area, prices are much cheaper than what is offered in the capital.
While gas around Anju trades for roughly
10,000 KPW [1.22 USD] per kilogram, the same amount fetches a near double on the black market at 18,000 KPW [2.21 USD],
she said. “A 20kg tank is around 170,000 KPW [20.85 USD], while a 5kg one is about
80,000 KPW [9.82 USD]. But a local container of 2kg only goes for around 15,000 KPW [1.84 USD],” said
the source.
“Gas vendors from Pyongyang rent a vehicle
and pursue deals with cadres from Baekma and Namheung factories or even buy
their supply from black market vendors there,” she added.
Regrettably, the power supply fueling one’s daily life is very much reflective of the ever-growing economic disparity in the city, she said, noting, “While rich people can get their gas with just one phone call, poor residents
in the city can barely secure one or two coal briquettes to cook their rice.”
