DUSHANBE, April 19, Asia-Plus — Natural-gas supplies will resume only after discharge of $7 million debt of Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems) power holding to Tajik state natural-gas distributor Tojikgaz, the Tojikgaz director general Fathiddin Muhsiddinov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to Muhsiddinov, reduction in gas supplies has caused many industrial enterprises in Tajikistan to stop operating. “Thus, Tojikazot, which produces mineral fertilizers, now stands idle and the Dushanbe cement plant currently operates only at half of its half its capacity,” the Tojikgaz top manager said.
He further added that at present Tajikistan receives up to 800,000 cubic meters of Uzbek natural gas a day. Before that, Tajikistan had received gas supplies from Uzbekistan at the rate of 2 million cubic meters per day.
As it had been reported earlier, Uzbekistan considerably cut natural-gas shipments to Tajikistan in late March due to $7 million in arrears that Tojikgaz owes to Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan has to date failed to reach an agreement on increasing Uzbek natural-gas supplies.
In the meantime, the public debts to Tojikgaz have to date exceeded 70 million somonis (equivalent to more than $20.4 million). Dushanbe residents alone now owe 30 million somonis (some $8.8 million) to Tojikgaz.
