DUSHANBE, July 27, 2011, Asia-Plus — Negotiations between Tajikistan and Russia on lifting gasoline export are going on, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Farrukh Hamraliyev told reporters on July 27.
“The negotiations have been going on for already two years and the sides have been conducting them, upholding their national interests,” said the minister. “However, it is impossible to resolve the issue only through negotiations. Before lifting the gasoline export duty, the Russian government has to substantiate this decision and persuade the parliament to adopt appropriate document.”
Hamraliyev stressed that Russia has not made any demands during the negotiations. “They are just upholding their national interests,” the minister said.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were exempted from paying Russian tariffs on light oil exports from 1995-2010.
When Russia cancelled Tajikistan”s tax exemption in May 2010, Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov sent a letter to his 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 and the Tajik side has declared that the issue over tariffs was still under consideration by the Russian side.
In the meantime, Russia scrapped the export duty on light oil for Kyrgyzstan in early March this year. In exchange for this, Kyrgyzstan reportedly exempted Russia from paying rental fee for its military base deployed in the Kyrgyz city of Kant.
We will recall that Russia lowered export duty on light oil this month. By Russian government’s decree export duty on light oil is decreased from US$309.60 to US$298.20 per ton beginning on July 1, 2011. The export duty for gasoline is also decreased from US$415.80 to US$400.50 beginning on July 1, 2011.
It is to be noted that it is the first decrease in export duty for Russian oil products this year. Since the beginning of this year, the Russian government has regulated the export duty on light oil. A sudden spike was reported in May, when export duty for Russian gasoline rose 44 percent as compared with April.
Introduction of export duty on Russian light oil has led to considerable increase in gasoline prices in Tajikistan.
