DUSHANBE, March 14, Asia-Plus — Uzbekistan suspended exports of natural gas to Tajikistan yesterday.
Bobokhon Sharofiddinov, the deputy head of Tajikistan’s natural-gas distributor, Tojikgaz, told Asia-Plus today the suspension was due to technical problems. A wormhole was detected on a gas pipeline in the territory of Uzbekistan, according him. “The gas supplies will resume within the next two days, the Tojikgaz official said.
We will recall that Tajikistan reached an agreement with Uzbekistan on the price for natural-gas imports for 2008 last December. The agreement sets the price gas for Tajik gas imports at $145 per 1,000 cubic meters. The sides also reached an agreement on the volume of natural gas to be imported from Uzbekistan in 2008. This year, Tajikistan is planning to import 650 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan. According to some source, the agreement requires Tajikistan to pay in full for the gas imports from Uzbekistan in advance, following past problems with mounting arrears.
In the meantime, public debts to Tojikgaz for gas consumption have to date amounted to 32 million somonis (equivalent to nearly $9.3 million) and Barqi Tojik power holding’s gas debts have amounted to $7 million, while Tojikgaz’s debt to Uzbekistan for gas imports have amounted to $6 million.
