DUSHANBE, December 4, 2009, Asia-Plus — Tojiktransgaz (Tajik state natural-gas distributor) is beginning preliminary negotiations with the state gas producer in Uzbekistan, Uztransgaz, on natural-gas shipments to Tajikistan in 2010, Asia-Plus has learned at Tojiktransgaz.
The source says Tojiktransgaz is currently in correspondence with Uztransgaz over the gas shipments issues. “However, we have not yet got reply to the question about the gas prices for the next year,” said the source, “We would like to know the price in order to determine how much gas we will be able to purchase from Uzbekistan in 2010.”
According to him, official negotiations on gas shipments are expected to start in Tashkent already next week.
He added that Tajikistan was currently receiving natural gas from Uzbekistan at the rate of some 10,000 cubic meters per hour.
This year, Uzbekistan sells its natural gas to Tajikistan for US$240 per 1,000 cubic meters and Uzbekistan was supposed to supply some 530 million cubic meters of natural gas to Tajikistan this year.
“However, most probably only 50 percent of this volume will be supplied to Tajikistan until the end of this year,” the source noted.
