In the first quarter of 2023, Uzbekistan sharply increased the import of gas, coal, oil and oil products, the Statistics Agency reported.
In three months, $152.9 million worth of gas was imported, but almost all of the volume of deliveries was in March – $151.2 million. This is 2.6 times more than in January-March 2022, and also slightly more than half of the import of this raw material during the previous year ($281.9 million).
Gas exports amounted to $3.7 million in January, $3.7 million in February, and $20.4 million in March. At the same time, according to Chinese customs statistics, Uzbekistan did not export gas to China. Most likely, fuel was supplied to neighboring countries, including Kyrgyzstan.
In January-March, Uzbekistan imported coal worth $45.2 million ($13.2 million in January, $16 million in February, $16 million in March), which is 61.7% more than in the first quarter of last year.
The volume of supply of oil and oil products increased by 43.3% and amounted to $510 million ($135.1 million in January, $152.5 million in February, $222.4 million in March).
In January, the Statistics Agency did not publish data on electricity imports and exports. In February-March, Uzbekistan imported electricity worth $34.4 million and exported it for $18.9 million.
Thus, Uzbekistan spent $742.5 million to import these energy resources, which is almost 2 times more than in the first quarter of last year.
The increase in imports of gas, electricity and coal is taking place against the background of a decrease in their domestic production. As it was reported earlier, gas production in the republic decreased by 9.6% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, and by 12.9% in March. For three months, the volume of electricity production decreased by 5%. Thermal energy and coal production have also decreased.
