Construction of a 56-kilometer gas pipeline from Yovon to Levakant (formerly Sarband) has begun, Levakant Mayor, Ms. Zarina Davlatzoda, told reporters yesterday.
“The State Unitary Enterprise (SUE) Tojikgaxt is constructing this gas pipeline, and to-date, they have constructed about six kilometers of it,” Davlatzoda said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Gulandom Azimzoda, the chairperson of the energy and industry department at Khatlon governor’s office, noted that the pipeline would carry Uzbek natural gas to Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) Azot (formerly TojikAzot – fertilizer plant).
Recall, the debt-ridden and loss-making fertilizer plant has not been in operation since 2008 due to lack of natural gas supplies.
Until 2008, when neighboring Uzbekistan upped the price of natural gas, a key input for the factory, TojikAzot served as a foreign investment-success story for Tajikistan’s economy. TojikAzot had been receiving Uzbek natural gas through the Dushanbe-Khuroson-Levakant gas pipeline.
After so many years this gas pipeline is outdated and it will be cheaper to build a new gas pipeline than to rehabilitate this.
