DUSHANBE, October 2, 2012, Asia-Plus — Russia has raised gasoline tariffs for Tajikistan again.
According to information posted on an official website of the Russian Government on October 1, the export duty on oil has been raised from 393.80 U.S. dollars per ton on September 1 to 418.90 U.S. dollars.
The export duty on light oil has been raised from 259.90 U.S. dollars per ton to 276.40 U.S. dollars while the export duty for gasoline has been raised from 354.40 U.S. dollars per ton to 377.00 U.S. dollars.
We will recall that Tajikistan was exempted from paying Russian tariffs on oil and gas exports from 1995-2010. On May 1, 2010, Russia cancelled Tajikistan”s tax exemption and the Russian government has regulated the export duty on light oil since the beginning of last year. A sudden spike was reported in May 2011, when export duty for Russian gasoline rose 44 percent as compared with April.
According to some sources, the issue of restoration of the tax-free status for the Russian oil products exported to Tajikistan is expected to be raised during the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tajikistan.
According to the statistical data from the Customs Service under the government of Tajikistan, 245,500 tons of oil products, with 44 percent of them being gasoline (109,400 tons), have been imported into Tajikistan over the first eight months of this year, which is 66,600 tons fewer than in the same period last year.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI), Tajikistan itself has produced 489.9 tons of foil products this year, which is only 2 percent of the country’s annual requirements in oil products. Tajikistan’s annual requirements in oil products are now more than 600,000 tons.
Russia now accounts for 62.7 percent of Tajikistan’s fuel imports, which is 20 percent lower than last year. Meanwhile, a share of Turkmenistan in Tajikistan’s fuel imports has increased – from 11 percent in 2011 to 19.8 percent.
The price of one liter of 92-octane gasoline in Dushanbe has risen from 6.40 somoni in June to 6.60 somoni, with similar prices rises in other parts of the country.
