DUSHANBE, October 10, 2012, Asia-Plus — Under a memorandum signed in Dushanbe during Russian president’s visit, Russia will deliver one million tons of oil products to Tajikistan free of tax next year.
An official source at the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) says Tajikistan and Russia are expected to sign a government-to-government agreement on the tax-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan before November 1 this year.
“Under this agreement, Russia will deliver one million tons of oil products to Tajikistan free of tax next year,” said the source. “The Tajik side, however, has not yet decided on the share of gasoline in this volume.” The issue of shares of gasoline and the remaining six types of fuel in this volume will be resolved next week, he added.
A memorandum on the conditions of Russian oil product deliveries to Tajikistan was signed between the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation in Dushanbe on October 5.
The memorandum provides for signing of the government-to-government agreement on the tax-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan before November 1 this year.
The sides have reportedly come to an agreement on tax-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan in the volume of domestic consumption.
We will recall that 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. A sudden spike was reported in May 2011, when export duty for Russian gasoline rose 44 percent as compared with April.
Current export duty on Russian light oil is 276.40 U.S. dollars per ton and the export duty on Russian gasoline is 377.00 U.S. dollars per ton.
According to the statistical data from the Customs Service under the government of Tajikistan, 245,500 tons of oil products, with 44 percent of them being gasoline (109,400 tons), have been imported into Tajikistan over the first eight months of this year, which is 66,600 tons fewer than in the same period last year.
Tajikistan itself has reportedly produced 489.9 tons of foil products this year, which is only 2 percent of the country’s annual requirements in oil products. Experts say Tajikistan’s annual requirements in oil products are now more than 600,000 tons.
Russia now accounts for 62.7 percent of Tajikistan’s fuel imports, which is 20 percent lower than last year. Meanwhile, a share of Turkmenistan in Tajikistan’s fuel imports has increased – from 11 percent in 2011 to 19.8 percent.
The price of one liter of 92-octane gasoline in Dushanbe has risen from 6.40 somoni in June to 6.60 somoni, with similar prices rises in other parts of the country.
Experts from the Ministry of Economic Development Trade say the restoration of the tax-free status will result in gasoline prices falling 30-40 percent in Tajikistan.
