DUSHANBE, December 25, 2012, Asia-Plus — Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov on December 25 sent a letter to Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyayev asking to help solve the natural gas shipment problem.
The Uzbek side has begun reducing gas shipments to Tajikistan since December 24. Uzbekistan says it will halt natural gas deliveries to Tajikistan at 6:00 pm of December 31 in connection with expiration of the contract for 2012.
According to the Uzbek Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajik PM noted in his letter that Tajikistan’s annual requirements in natural gas are 200 million cubic meters and “this volume is inconsiderable for the Uzbek side.”
Uzbekistan, which is Tajikistan”s only supplier of gas, routinely suspends deliveries amid complaints of nonpayment. Last January, Uzbekistan suspended gas deliveries to Tajikistan, saying no contract had been signed for 2012. Days later, the contract was signed and deliveries resumed.
Uzbekistan also suspended gas shipments to Tajikistan in April, when the three-month contract expired.
Negotiations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on natural-gas shipments in 2013 are under way. Negotiations are still being conducted at the level of heads of Tojiktransgaz and Uztransgaz (Uzbek natural-gas supplier).
According to Tojiktransgaz, Tajikistan is expected to buy 200 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan. However, this volume may be lowered because Tajikistan has reduced considerably natural-gas imports from Uzbekistan in recent years due to high prices.
The main consumers of Uzbek gas in Tajikistan are now the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) and Tojikcement (Dushanbe cement plant). Current price 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 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.
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.
Current price for 1000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas in Tajikistan is 300.00 U.S. dollars.
According to a monthly report for December 2012,
Monitoring & Early Warning in Tajikistan
, Natural gas imports in November were 8.2 million cubic meters, 0.2 million cubic meters less than in October 2012, and 4.3 million cubic meters less than in November 2011. Over the first ten months of this year, Tajikistan ahs reportedly imported 124.6 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan, 39.5 million cubic meters less than in the same period last year (164.1 million cubic meters), the report said.
