DUSHANBE, June 1, 2011, Asia-Plus — Along with raising export duty on gasoline, Russian authorities have reportedly restricted gasoline exports in order to reduce gasoline shortages inside the country.
The source at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) says that according to some data, Russia has allegedly restricted gasoline exports only for several countries, including Tajikistan.
“To stabilize gasoline prices in domestic market, the Russian government has decided to increase the export duty on oil products,” said the source, “Russia has increased tariffs for oil product exports. According to the new tariffs, the export duty on Russian gasoline going to Tajikistan rose from US$408.30 per ton to US$415.80 starting from June 1. The new tariffs will be in effect until July 1, 2011 but they will probably raise tariffs for oil product exports in the future as well.”
According to the preliminary data, Turkmen gasoline shipments have increased in recent months, the source added. He, however, refrained from naming the price and the volumes.
“Turkmenistan has never refused to give us help. They have always said, “Come and buy as much as you want.” But everything hinges on the price. Turkmen gasoline is more expensive than the Russian one; but in connection with rising tariffs on the Russian gasoline exports, it is now more profitable to buy Turkmen gasoline. Therefore, Turkmen gasoline deliveries are increasing.”
In the meantime, the Antimonopoly Agency under the Government of Tajikistan says there is no shortage of gasoline in Tajikistan. Today, only three large companies are engaged in delivering oil products to Tajikistan and they coordinate their prices with the antimonopoly agency, the source said.
According to him, Gazpromneft-Tajikistan dominates Tajikistan’s fuel market. Gazpromneft-Tajikistan reportedly accounted for 41percent of the country’s fuel market in the first quarter of 2011. The two other large suppliers of oil products are Anahita and Nouri Dilshod that reportedly account for 10 and 9 percent of the country’s fuel market respectively. The remaining niche is occupied by small firms.
In May Russia increased tariffs for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan but later waived the new tariffs for Kyrgyzstan.
We will recall that Tajikistan was exempted from paying Russian tariffs on oil and gasoline exports from 1995-2010. When Russia cancelled Tajikistan”s tax exemption on May 1, 2010, Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov sent a letter to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin asking for the tax-free status to be restored. Afterward, working groups from the two sides held several rounds of negotiations on this subject.
