DUSHANBE, May 27, 2009, Asia-Plus — A sudden spike in gasoline prices has been reported in Dushanbe over the past week.
The price of one liter of 92-octane gasoline in Dushanbe has risen from 2.30 somoni on March 20 to 3.00 somoni, with similar price rises in other parts of the country. Prices of other types of gasoline have risen as well.
Specialists from the antimonopoly directorate within the Ministry Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT) said that the price hike has resulted from increase in exchange rates of currencies of the countries that provide the bulk of Tajikistan’s fuel imports – Russia and Kazakhstan – against the dollar. Moreover, those countries have limited sales in connection with sowing season.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI), limited liability companies Gazpromneft-Tajikistan, Tojiron and Umed now account for some 80 percent of the overall volume of fuel deliveries to the country.
Tajikistan currently imports fuels mainly from the Russian Federation (70%) as well as from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
