Alexander Novak: Uzbekistan is interested in creating a “gas union” with the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan is interested in the project to create a “tripartite gas union” with the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, at a joint commission at the level of heads of government in Samarkand, the parties agreed to continue the dialogue.

This was announced to journalists on Friday by Deputy PM of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak following the results of negotiations, TASS reports. 

“We agreed to continue the dialogue. We are ready to ensure an increase in gas supplies to the Republic of Uzbekistan, since gas consumption in Uzbekistan is growing and will continue to grow in the short term. And there is a possibility of expanding this cooperation on gas supplies. The technical details will be worked out in the near future,” Novak said.

On the question of whether Uzbekistan has an interest in the implementation of the gas union, Novak answered positively.

“Definitely. We agreed to continue the work, since there is an interest in additional supplies of Russian gas to the Republic of Uzbekistan. I repeat, we need to work out technical and commercial issues,” he concluded.

It should be recalled that for the first time, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, announced the initiative to create a “tripartite gas union” between the countries at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on November 28. Then he noted that the initiative came from the Russian leader.

Later, the press secretary of the President of Kazakhstan, Ruslan Jeldibay, noted that Tokayev and Putin considered it necessary to involve experts from three countries to find a rational solution to this issue, taking into account the interests of all parties.

In addition, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the project of a “tripartite gas union” proposed by the President of the Russian Federation with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan involves the creation of a coordination mechanism and the development of gas consumption and transportation infrastructure for both domestic and foreign markets.

Astana also said that the idea of   a gas union with the Russian Federation should be carefully studied.

In Uzbekistan, none of the officials at the official level has yet commented on the initiative to create a “tripartite gas union”. The main information comes from Russia and Kazakhstan.