Uzbekistan and Russia are working to expand the capacity of the Central Asia-Center pipeline system to increase supplies of Russian gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this in a statement to the press following negotiations with the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on May 27.
Since October 7, 2023, Uzbekistan has been importing gas from Russia through the territory of Kazakhstan. The agreement, concluded for two years, provides for the supply of 2.8 billion cubic meters per year.
“I remember how it started in the winter then. A difficult critical situation developed in Uzbekistan due to abnormal cold weather. I remember how Shavkat Miromonovich was worried and, of course, looked for all the possibilities to solve this problem. Naturally, we are all thinking about the future, the climate is changing, we need to take some steps in advance,” he said.
According to him, work is now underway to increase the capacity of the Central Asia – Center pipeline system, which will allow increasing the volume of gas pumped to Uzbekistan to 11 billion cubic meters in 2025.
Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev, in a commentary for Channel One, said that Russia and Uzbekistan are conducting active negotiations on a significant increase in supplies of not only gas, but also electricity. Volumes are still the subject of negotiations.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called Russia a strategic partner in the supply of natural gas, oil and petroleum products. “There is an agreement to modernize the gas transportation system, increase the volume of supplies of gas, oil and petroleum products, and implement projects with leading Russian hydrocarbon processing companies,” he said.
As Kun.uz reported earlier, the state company Uztransgaz intends to modernize the system in 2024-2030 for $500 million to increase the volume of gas imports “from the north”, that is, from Russia. The volume of supplies is planned to increase from 9 to 32 million cubic meters of gas per day.
The head of the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan, Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov, previously explained why the country buys Russian gas, although Turkmenistan with large reserves is closer, as well as the reasons for the export of “blue fuel” to other countries. He emphasized that it is wrong to politicize the issue of gas supplies from Russia.
In 2023, Uzbekistan imported more gas than it exported. The difference in supplies exceeded $165 million and continues to grow. Gazeta.uz analyzed the factors that led to this situation, despite the huge gas reserves within the country.
