Minister of energy speaks about tariffs that are not disclosed

The week of international partnership initiatives "New Uzbekistan: Development, Innovation and Enlightenment" continues in Tashkent. The Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov also participated in the weekly program on July 7. The Kun.uz correspondent addressed some questions to the minister within the framework of the event.

According to the contract signed with Gazprom last month, Uzbekistan will start importing 9 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Russia from October 1. The correspondent asked the Minister of Energy at what price gas is being purchased under this agreement.

"We commented on the price, the price was agreed based on our national interests and the market situation. We cannot disclose the price because this is a two-way contract. We have explained this. In general, if you look at contracts in this direction, the price is not disclosed in any contract, but I can say that a competitive price was agreed upon, taking national interests into account," Mirzamakhmudov said.

In the official information of the Energy Ministry on June 19, when concluding an agreement with Gazprom, the price of natural gas was agreed based on the market prices in the region, as well as the current prices in the republic and the reforms planned to be implemented on the basis of market principles.

Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov also responded to the issue of "formation of prices in the republic based on market principles" highlighted in this statement.

"As long as we do not reform in terms of price, if you pay attention, we are working on generation and distribution lines, supply, but if we do not harmonize prices in terms of consumption, energy efficiency, investors will not come first. Why do investors come? They need a tariff. Second, we need to improve consumption efficiency. That is why we are definitely working on it, making an offer," he said.

Mirzamakhmudov answered the question about whether the transition to tariffs based on market prices could happen this year: "Discussions are underway. The sooner the better for us, of course".

The head of the Energy Ministry also answered the question about the fact that recently projects for the creation of renewable energy sources are awarded to Chinese companies without a tender, which may later create certain political consequences.

“It is wrong to say only with China. The reason is that direct negotiations are going on not only with Chinese companies, but also with Saudi Arabian ACWA Power, French Total Eren, Emirati Masdar. Here we have to divide projects into two. Direct negotiations and tenders. How long did you see the last tender? When will the project start? You saw the tariff, Masdar won the tender with a price of 3.5 cents. I would like to say that the prices we agreed with Chinese companies are much lower than that.

Due to direct negotiations, we managed to shorten the project implementation period by a certain period. We started negotiations in February and reached a preliminary agreement in March. In May, the presidential decision was issued, and now construction work has begun on the square. In Bukhara and Kashkadarya, the Chinese company has committed to start up the capacity from 200 MW to 400 MW by the end of this year. Or if we talk about ACWA Power, it will launch 100 MW of power in Kibray district of Tashkent region by the end of the year," Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov said.

The member of the government said that he could not disclose the tariffs agreed through direct negotiations, but that these tariffs were lower than the prices in the last tenders.

"It will be cheaper than the prices in the tender. I would like you to understand correctly, we cannot disclose the tariff. The reason is that other negotiations are going on. There are two sides to the contract: the investor and us. We agreed with the other party not to disclose. In this regard, the price and certain aspects are not allowed to be disclosed. The reason is that they work in other countries and invest in other places.

It can be said that the prices we are agreeing on are the most competitive, the best, based on national interests, and the cheapest tariffs among neighboring countries," Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov, Minister of Energy, said.