DUSHANBE, June 19, 2013, Asia-Plus — Negotiations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on natural gas shipments for this year have not been crowned with success, Tajik Minister of energy and Industry Gul Sherali told reporters in Dushanbe on June 18.
The minister, however, did not clarify the reason for that and did not specify whether the negations are going on or not.
According to him, 162 enterprises have been shifted from natural gas to coal since 2007. He further added that Tajik state-run natural gas distributor, Tojiktransgaz, had sent more than 50 percent of its employees on forced unpaid and indefinite vacation.
Meanwhile, an official source at Tojiktransgaz says all its employees, including top managers, have taken unpaid vacations due to lack of work.
We will recall that Uzbekistan suspended gas deliveries via pipeline to Tajikistan on December 31, 2012 after both sides failed to agree on gas prices following the expiration of their contract.
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan”s only supplier of gas, routinely suspends gas deliveries to its neighbor amid complaints of nonpayment.
On December 25, 2012, Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov sent a letter to Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyayev, asking to help solve the natural gas shipment problem. Tajik PM noted in his letter that Tajikistan’s annual requirements in natural gas are 200 million cubic meters. However, the problem has not been solved so far.
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.
Last year, an average price for 1000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas in Tajikistan was 300.00 U.S. dollars. In 2012, Tajikistan received 132.4 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan, 46.6 million cubic meters fewer than in 2011.
