DUSHANBE, February 14, Asia-Plus – Tajik state natural-gas distributor, Tojikgaz, intends to begin to repay its loan to OryonBonk in May.
We will recall that Tojikgaz in September 2006 borrowed $2 million in a form of long-term loan from OryonBonk to pay for Uzbek natural-gas supplies.
Tojikgaz Director Fathiddin Muhsiddinov said that they will repay the loan due to their own funds. However, he refrained from giving details on the loan interest rate.
“We had to borrow from the bank to pay almost a half of our debts to Uzbektransgaz that had amounted to $4.5 million by that time,” said Tojikgaz director, “The other part of the debts had been paid from the Tojikgaz funds.”
“We will probably be able to have paid the loan to OryonBonk by the end of the year,” Muhsiddinov said, adding that payment of the loan depends on the collection of funds from gas consumers.
According to him the rate of the collection of funds from the public and enterprises in Dushanbe and Khujand, the capital of Sughd, remains low – not more than 50 percent. “The natural-gas debt of the population amounts to $130 million,” said the natural-gas distributor top manager, “Most likely, this debt will not be cleared off because our consumers cannot pay even for the current gas supplies not to mention the debts.”
Tojikgaz has to date managed to pay only a half of its $3 million debt for Uzbek natural-gas deliveries and Uzbekistan has increased natural-gas supplies to Tajikistan, according to him.
Tajikistan now receives natural gas from Uzbekistan at the rate of 80,000 cubic meters per hour.
According to the State Committee for Statistics, Tajikistan in January imported 7.2 million cubic meters of natural gas for $7.2 million.
