DUSHANBE, September 20, 2011, Asia-Plus — Refueling stations operated by limited liability company Gazpromneft-Tajikistan, which is an affiliate of Russia’s state-controlled gas company, began to sell 92-octane gasoline today.
The source in Gazpromneft-Tajikistan says 30 train cars loaded with high-octane gasoline arrived in Tajikistan on Monday. “1,600 tons of 92-octane gasoline arrived in Dushanbe yesterday and we applied to the antimonopoly agency to coordinate new fees with them,” the source told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.
According to him, the Gazpromneft-Tajikistan refueling stations now sell 92-octane gasoline at 6.60 somoni per one liter, 80-octane gasoline at 6.40 somoni per liter and diesel fuel at 6.20 somoni per liter.
As it had been reported earlier, refueling stations operated by Gazpromneft-Tajikistan limited high-octane gasoline sales on September 5. The refueling stations limited their sales to not more than 20 liters per a person and on September 13, Gazpromneft-Tajikistan stopped selling 92-octane gasoline as its high-octane gasoline stocks ran out.
We will recall that when Russia cancelled Tajikistan”s tax exemption on May 1, 2010, Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov sent a letter to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin asking for the tax-free status to be restored.
Russia, however, continues raising export duty on light oil. By Russian government’s decree export duty on light oil is raised from US$293.60 per ton to US$297.50 beginning on September 1, 2011. The export duty for gasoline is also raised by 1.3 percent – from US$394.40 to US$399.70.
In July and August the Russian government lowered export duty on light oil and gasoline. On July 1, the export duty on light oil was reduced from US$309.60 to US$298.20 per ton and the export duty for gasoline was reduced from US$415.80 to US$400.50 and on August 1, the export duty on light oil was reduced from US$298.20 per ton to US$293.60 and the export duty for gasoline was reduced from US$400.50 to US$394.40.
The Russian government has regulated the export duty on light oil since the beginning of this year. A sudden spike was reported in May, when export duty for Russian gasoline rose 44 percent as compared with April.
Introduction of export duty on Russian light oil has led to considerable increase in gasoline prices in Tajikistan.
According to the Antimonopoly Agency of under the Government of Tajikistan, Russian now accounts for 90 percent of Tajikistan’s fuel imports.
