DUSHANBE, December 21, 2009, Asia-Plus — A delegation of Tojiktransgaz (Tajik state natural-gas distributor), led by its director general, Saidmamad Sharofiddinov is expected to go to Tashkent, Uzbekistan this week to discuss with top managers of the Uzbek gas supplier, Uztransgaz, gas price for 2010, the source at Tojiktransgaz told Asia-Plus on Monday.
According to him, the Uzbek side has not yet specified the gas price for the next year. “In 2010, Tajikistan intends to purchase some 400-500 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan,” the source said.
At present, Uzbekistan is supplying some 31,000 cubic meters of natural gas per hour to Tajikistan.
In the meantime, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on December 14 that the Tojiktransgaz head Saidmamad Sharofiddinov told RFE/RL that Uzbekistan is insisting to keep the 2009 gas price — some $240 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.
Sharofiddinov said world gas prices have fallen and therefore Tashkent should decrease its price as well. He added that Tajikistan expects Uzbekistan to decrease its price for gas by 30 percent.
Uzbekistan supplies some 95 percent of Tajikistan”s gas needs and disagreements between the two countries in recent years have caused Uzbek officials to turn off the gas flow to Tajikistan that has led to severe energy shortages, particularly during the winter, RFE/RL’s Tajik service reported.
