DUSHANBE, October 11, 2012, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan plans to start negotiations with Uzbekistan on gas shipments for 2013 next month.
An official source at Tojiktransgaz (Tajik natural-gas distributor) says Uzbek gas being supplied to the country is mainly used by industrial enterprises.
He added that all disagreements between the sides were settled last April.
We will recall that Uzbekistan halted natural gas deliveries to Tajikistan in early April, when the three-month contract expired. Uzbekistan, which is Tajikistan”s only supplier of gas, routinely suspends deliveries amid complaints of nonpayment. Days later, all the issues were resolved and deliveries resumed.
The main consumers of Uzbek gas in Tajikistan are now Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) and Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant). “Current rice of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas for them is 380.00 U.S. dollars,” the source said.
As far as the residential customers are concerned, more than 90 percent of them have not received natural gas since 2009 because of high prices.
Uzbek natural gas prices vary quarterly depending on the world trends and Tajikistan must make prepayments every ten days.
In the first quarter of 2011, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan at US$227.85 per 1,000 cubic meters, while the price for the second quarter was US$249.19 per 1,000 cubic meters. In the third quarter, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan at US$284.33 per 1,000 cubic meters and the price for the fourth quarter was US$311.00.
In 2010, an average price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek natural gas for Tajikistan was US$240.00; in the first quarter of 2010, the price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas was US$231.00 and in the fourth quarter, it rose to US$254.00.
