Tajik and Uzbek authorities have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement on resumption of Uzbek natural-gas supplies to Tajikistan.
“Open Joint-Stock Company Tojiktransgaz (Tajik state natural-gas distributor) and Uzbekneftegaz Holding (Uzbek state-owned holding company of Uzbekistan's oil and gas industry) have reached the preliminary agreement on resumption of the Uzbek natural-gas supplies to Tajikistan during recent negotiations that took place in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent,” an official source at Tojiktransgaz told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.
According to him, Tojiktransgaz is currently studying Uzbekneftegaz’s price offer. “We hope the Uzbek natural-gas supplies to Tajikistan will be resumed within the next few months,” the source said.
The source, however, refrained from naming the price offered by Uzbekneftegaz. He just said that it was much lower than the international natural-gas prices.
Current international price for 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas is some 300.00 U.S. dollars.
Recall, Uzbekistan stopped gas deliveries via pipeline to Tajikistan on December 31, 2012 after both sides failed to agree on gas prices following the expiration of their contract.
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan’s only supplier of gas, was routinely suspending gas deliveries to its neighbor amid complaints of nonpayment.
Uzbek natural gas prices varied quarterly depending on the world trends and Tajikistan had to make prepayments every ten days.
In 2010, an average price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek natural gas for Tajikistan was US$240.00; in the first quarter of 2010, the price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas was US$231.00 and in the fourth quarter, it rose to US$254.00.
In the first quarter of 2011, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan for US$227.85 per 1,000 cubic meters, while the price for the second quarter was US$249.19 per 1,000 cubic meters. In the third quarter, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan for US$284.33 per 1,000 cubic meters and the price for the fourth quarter was US$311.00.
In 2012, an average price for 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas in Tajikistan was 300.00 U.S. dollars. In 2012, Tajikistan received 132.4 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan, 46.6 million cubic meters fewer than in 2011.
Signs of a thaw in relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan emerged in September last year. In the years since independence, bilateral relations have been plagued by mistrust, disputes over water resources and outright hostility. Both sides have adopted a series of punitive measures against each other. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has expressed interest in “resetting” relations with Tajikistan.
Regular flights between Dushanbe and Tashkent that were suspended in 1992 at Uzbek authorities’ initiative were resumed in April this year.
