DUSHANBE, November 3, 2012, Asia-Plus — Experts from relevant ministries of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation held a meeting here from October 30 to November 1 to discuss a draft government-to-government agreement on the tax-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan, an official source at the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) said.
According to him, Tajikistan and Russia are expected to sign this agreement before the end of this year.
We will recall that 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.
The source noted that the Russian side was ready to deliver one million tons of oil products to Tajikistan free of tax per year. “The agreement will be of indefinite duration and indicative fuel balance will be reviewed every year,” he added.
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.
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 6.70 somoni, with similar prices rises in other parts of the country.
Experts from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT) say the restoration of the tax-free status will result in gasoline prices falling 30-40 percent in Tajikistan.
