DUSHANBE, December 22, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan is not at all happy with natural-gas price set by Uzbekistan for 2009.
Uzbekistan, which is the only supplier of natural gas to Tajikistan has set the price of natural-gas supplies for Tajikistan at $300 per 1,000 cubic meters, a 100 percent increase over the current price, Farhiddin Muhsiddinov, the director general of Tojikgaz (Tajik state natural-gas distributor), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“This price does not suit us and we intend to continue gas price decrease negotiations,” Muhsiddinov said, adding that Uzbekistan’s proposal on the gas price is currently considered by the government. “Only after the government considers the Uzbek proposal, we will be able to offer our price,” the Tojikgaz head said. He expressed hope that final gas price would be much lower.
“During negotiations in Tashkent in early December, we proposed the Uzbek side to keep the current price – $145 per 1,000 cubic meters, but Uztransgaz, the state gas producer in Uzbekistan, refused,” Muhsiddinov said.
Tajikistan intends to purchase 550 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan in 2009, according to Tojikgaz.
In the meantime, Kyrgyz news agency, 24.kg, reported on December 15 that Uzbekistan has finally set gas supply terms for Kyrgyzstan. This year the gas price will reach $300 per each 1,000m3, the Kyrgyzgaz public corporation informed the news agency “24.kg” Monday after returning from Tashkent where official gas talks took place. The Kyrgyz Minister of Industry, Energy and Fuel Resources Ilias Davydov answering our question said that the information is not final and asked journalists to hold back the emotional estimates.
“We are ready to continue gas talks with the Uzbeks. We work out a feasibility study and other documents to continue gas price decrease negotiations. We believe that our neighbors will reconsider the prices, taking into account the current slump in oil products’ prices,” Davydov said.
