DUSHANBE, January 28, 2013, Asia-Plus — Every month, 300-350 tank trucks carrying smuggled gasoline cross the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, according to the Customs Service under the Government of Tajikistan.
An official source at the Customs Service says customs officers seized 240 tons of smuggled gasoline at the Tajik-Kyrgyz border in the northern province of Sughd last week and administrative action was imposed on the gasoline smugglers.
According to him, it is very difficult to ward off such attempts because “there are 150 bypass roads along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border in northern Tajikistan.”
Every month, around six to nine tons of smuggled gasoline is reportedly seized by Tajik customs officers at the Tajik-Kyrgyz border in Sughd.
Last year, Tajikistan reportedly imported little more than 372,000 tons of oil products, 68,000 fewer than in 2011. A totaled included 205,000 tons of oil products from Russia, 64,100 tons from Turkmenistan, 48,500 tons from Kyrgyzstan, and 7,100 tons form Uzbekistan.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI), a share of Kyrgyzstan in Tajikistan’s fuel imports has increased noticeably — from 0.5 percent in 2011 to 13 percent in 2012.
Meanwhile, Russia last year accounted for 55.3 percent of Tajikistan’s fuel imports, Turkmenistan – 17.2 percent, and Uzbekistan – 0.02 percent.
