Over the first three months of this year, Tajikistan has imported more than US$58 million worth of about 118,400 tons of petroleum products, which was 2.7 percent fewer by weight and 22.6 percent fewer by cost, according to the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan.
Compared to January, fuel imports in March decreased by 17.3 percent or 7,600 tons. Thus, fuel imports in January amounted to some 44,000 tons, in February – 38,000 tons, and in March – approximately 36,400 tons.
An average price for one ton of imported petroleum products in the country increased from US$444.00 in January to US$560.00 in March (26-percent increase).
The price for one liter of 92-octane gasoline (the most sought-after grade of automobile gas in Tajikistan) in Dushanbe increased from 6.50 somonis in January to 8.50 somonis in March (30-percent increase), with similar price rises in other regions of the country.
Over the reporting period, the price for one liter of 95-octane gasoline rose in the Tajik capital 27 percent (from 6.90 somonis to 8.80 somonis), and the price for one liter of diesel fuel in Dushanbe increased from 6.80 somonis in January 1 to 7.70 somonis in March (13-percent increase).
Compared to Dushanbe, fuel prices in Khalton and Sughd provinces are 2.0-3.0 percent more expensive subject to additional costs. In the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), fuel prices are 8.0-10 percent more expensive compared to Dushanbe.
Officials at fuel supply companies say the price hike has resulted from the rising cost of petroleum products in Russia, which provides the bulk of Tajikistan’s fuel and imports and the rising international prices of oil.
Besides, the gasoline price hike has reportedly resulted from the decrease in the volume of oil refining in Russia against the backcloth of the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 50 companies in Tajikistan are engaged in delivering petroleum products to the country.
A spike in fuel prices that was reported in Tajikistan in early March has led to increase in prices for basic food products in the country.
Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament on March 31 enhanced the bill on amendments proposed to the country’s laws on the national budget for 2021. The amendments provide for exempting the Agency on State Material Reserves from paying value added tax (VAT), excise tax and customs duties on food and fuel deliveries.
The tax benefits are reportedly granted to the Agency for the purpose of curbing prices for gasoline and basic food products in the country.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the Agency on State Material Reserves has concluded an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) on providing preferential loan for import of essential products into the country.
Private fuel supply companies also want to have same benefits as the Agency on State Material Reserves. The Association of Suppliers of Petroleum Products and Liquefied Natural Gas of Tajikistan has sent a letter to President Emomali Rahmon, which, in particular, notes that amendments offered to the country’s law on the national budget for 2021 violate the norms of the country’s law on protection of competition and put its members at a disadvantage.
The letter, signed by the Association director Yorahmad Begahmadov and top managers of 18 fuel supply companies, notes that the Association members control 80 percent of the country’s fuel market, while the share of the Agency on State Material Reserves in the country’s fuel market over the past two years has been only 3.0 percent.
Authors of the letter note that benefits provided by the government to the Agency on State Material Reserves significantly reduce its fuel import costs and they ask the president for the same benefits.
Otherwise, the Association members will not be able to compete and will be forced to leave the market, the letter says.
