DUSHANBE


, January 26, Asia-Plus – “It is planned to continue work on developing


Tajikistan


’s gas fields that was started by


Russia


’s Gazprom joint-stock company,” Russian Ambassador to


Tajikistan


, Ramazan Abdulatipov, told journalists in


Dushanbe


on January 24.  

According to him, this issue has been repeatedly discussed with executives of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Economy as well as the fuel-and-power sector and the Russian side has even allocated US$5,000 for these purposes.  “However, the works have not yet been started,” Russian diplomat said.  

Mr. Abdulatipov also told journalists that currently the sides were considering the possibility of jointly prospecting for gold, silver and lead in Tajikistan.  

“Recently, senior representatives from the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited Dushanbe for the purpose of studying the possibility of bilateral cooperation in the mining area,” Russian ambassador said, adding that in near future, representatives from Russia’s Sverdlovskaya Oblast (region) will arrive in Tajikistan to negotiate with Tajik cotton growers further cooperation. 

DUSHANBE


, January 26, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday January 26, speaking to journalists Tajik Minister of Energy, Jurabek Nurmahmadov, noted that this year,


Tajikistan


planned to import 500 million kWh of electricity from


Uzbekistan


in the winter period.   

According to him, an agreement on this matter was reached recently during talks in Tashkent.  The deliveries began in December.  The minister said that Uzbekistan was exporting 7-8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a day.  He noted that in summer period, Tajikistan would supply to Uzbekistan 750 million kilowatt-hours of electric power.      

“Tajikistan is importing electricity not only from Uzbekistan,” said the minister “We are also importing some 1.5-2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity daily from Kyrgyztan.”

“Besides, Tajikistan has a long-term contract with the Russian Federation on supply Tajikistan to supplying some 1.5 billion kWh of electric power annually to Russia in the spring-summer season,” the minister said, adding electricity supplies to Russia are carried out via the power systems of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.  

The minister also noted that in future, they plan to conclude a contract with Kazakhstan on exporting 1.5 billion kWh of electricity to its southern provinces in the spring-summer period.  

According to Jurabek Nurmahmadov, Tajikistan’s power stations generated 17.08 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2005.   

DUSHANBE


, January 26, Asia-Plus –


Uzbekistan


will supply 650 million cubic of natural gas to


Tajikistan


this year, which is 20 million cubic meters more compared to 2005.  

Tajik Minister of Energy, Jurabek Nurmahmadov, told journalists this on Wednesday [January 25].  “This volume and the amount of gas being produced in Tajikistan (30-32 million cubic meters a year) should be enough for this year,” Nurmahmadov said, noting that in case of necessity Tajikistan will negotiate additional purchase of natural gas with Uzbekistan.

The minister also told journalists that in near future, they possibly resume works on developing the republic’s gas fields that had earlier been started by Russia’s Gazprom joint-stock company.  

 The aggregate raw-materials resources of the oil and gas bearing areas in Tajikistan amount to about 1,000 billion tons of reference fuel, according to expert estimates.

Nurmahmadov says production work at oil and gas fields require considerable expenditure, since hydrocarbon deposits occur at depths ranging from 6.5 to 7 kilometers. 

DUSHANBE


, January 26, Asia-Plus – A new cellular operator “M.Teco” will start working in


Tajikistan


in February this year.  The company will be providing cellular communication services in CDMA standard in


Dushanbe


and districts subordinate to the center.  

Mahmadsharif Boboshoyev, deputy director general of the closed joint-stock company “M.Teco”, has told Asia-Plus that their company is the first operator in


Tajikistan


providing the cellular communication services in the CDMA 2000 1×450 standard, which is used in the


United States


,


China


and European countries.  

“This standard allows providing protection against overhearing, high-quality sound, broad range and good work inside the buildings and tunnels,” Mr. Boboshoyev said, adding that all incoming calls will be are free of charge and there will be no subscription fee.  

Besides, the operator also intends to provide such services as mobile Internet, high-quality and cheap international SMS-communication.  

“In future, we plan to expand the range of our activity and provide services also to residents of


Vakhsh


Valley


and the Kulob region of Khatlon,” the Asia-Plus interlocutor said.  

At present the company established in northern


Tajikistan


last year covers all cities and districts of


Sughd


Province


.    

DUSHANBE


, January 25, Asia-Plus – Major Russian cellular operator, open joint-stock company (OJSC) “Vympel-Communications” (VympelCom), better known under the brand “Beeline”, intends to invest US$100 million in Tajik cellular operator “Tacom”.

Representatives from “VympelCom” and “Tacom” companies told journalists this in


Dushanbe


on January 24.    

The VympelCom technical director Sergey Avdeyev speaking to journalists noted that over the past three years, VympelCom has acquired eight new companies, including Kazakhstan’s “Kar-Tel”, “Ukrainskiye radiosistemy” (Ukrainian radio systems), the Kaliningrad-based “Ekstel” and “Beeline-Samara”.

According to him, Tajik cellular operator has attracted their attention by being licensed to provide cellular communication services in


Tajikistan


in the GSM-900/1800, UMTS, CDMA-450, and AMPS standards.

The Tacom acting director general Igor Pilyugin speaking to journalists said that to date, Tacom has had some 28,000 subscribers, who may use the previous line until “Beeline” launches its own network and they will automatically become subscribers to “Beeline”  

“We will try to get


Tajikistan


’s market by summer,” said Pilyugin, “We are still providing cellular communication services in GSM but then we will expand and develop our services.”  “Beeline will have many packages of services specially worked out for different sections of


Tajikistan


’s population.”

As it had been reported earlier, VympelCom purchased a 60% stake in Tajik cellular operator “Tacom” for $12 million.  As a result of the deal, VympelCom became a party to the shareholding agreement with shareholders in Tacom, who hold the remaining 40 percent of shares.  This deal gives to VympelCom the primary right to buy out remaining shares and increase its stake to 100%.  VympelCom”s $12 million price tag represents $2,000 per subscriber, which is the highest price paid within the CIS to date (MTS last year paid $960 per subscriber for control of Turkmenistan”s leading operator, Barash, and $626 for Kyrgyz operator Bitel).

Information of Asia-Plus:

“VympelCom” includes operators providing cellular communication services in


Russia


,


Kazakhstan


,


Ukraine


,


Uzbekistan


and


Tajikistan


. More than 45 million people are using services rendered by this company.