Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Tojiddin Jourazoda, told reporters in Dushanbe on January 30 that construction of an oil refinery in the Danghara Free Economic Zone (FEZ Danghara) has been complete and the plant is expected to be introduced into operation in March this year.
The oil refinery was reportedly constructed by the Tajik-Chinese joint venture TK-Oil.
“Dongying Heli Investment Development Co Ltd is the only investor and it does not have Tajik partners. “To-date, the company has invested more than 90 million U.S. dollars in construction of the oil refinery in Danghara,” Jourazoda said.
At the first stage, Tajik-Chinese joint venture, JV TK-Oil will produce diesel fuel as well as 80-octane and 92-octane gasoline.
Crude oil will be pumped through the 1.2-kilometer pipeline that has been laid to the refinery from the cargo terminal that has been built at the Bokhtar-Kulob railway.
At the next stage, the plant is expected to begin producing Euro-4 and Euro-5 standard gasoline as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
TK-Oil intends to launch a chain of its refueling stations across Tajikistan.
Recall, the Government of Tajikistan and Limited Liability Co. HELI of China signed an agreement to construct an oil refinery in the Danghara Free Economic Zone in 2014.
The construction cost was estimated to be $80 million for the first stage of the project and between $300 million and $500 million for the second stage of the project.
The production capacity of the oil refinery was expected to be 500 t/yr, and the refinery would employ 200 people. In the second stage of the project, the capacity of the refinery would increase to 1.2 Mt, and the refinery would employ 500 people.
The share of the Chinese side in the project reportedly amounts to 90 percent and the share of Tajikistan amounts to 10 percent.
Tajikistan was exempted from paying Russian tariffs on oil and gas exports from 1995-2010 and Russia cancelled Tajikistan’s tax exemption on May 1, 2010 that resulted in gasoline prices rising in the country.
Construction of small and medium-sized oil refineries began in various regions of the country. However, those enterprises have not been introduced into operation, while domestic production of oil products decreased from nearly 4,000 tons in 2010 to little more than 2,800 tons in 2015. In 2018, domestic production of oil products covered only 0.4 percent of Tajikistan’s requirements in oil products (700,000 tons).
