Putin announced when gas deliveries from Russia to Uzbekistan will begin

The export of Russian natural gas to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will begin in October, TASS reported citing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin announced this at the plenary meeting of the Valday club on October 5. He noted that gas export is of great importance for the economy of Central Asian countries.

"Technically, this has already been done, the full supply (of gas) will begin in October this year," Putin said. "It is still small, but it is very important for the economy of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. We will deliver 3 billion cubic meters to each, and we can increase it later."

Putin added that in order to organize gas supplies from Russia to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, it is required to restore and reconfigure gas transmission systems in all three countries.

In particular, it was necessary to adapt the pipelines installed during the USSR to send gas in the opposite direction. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have developed and implemented relevant plans in their territory, and Gazprom in Russia.

There are other issues of energy and water resources management on the agenda between Russia and Central Asia. The Russian leader described them as "difficult from an economic and financial point of view, but there is a solution."

Gas export from Russia to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

In November 2022, Russia proposed to establish a "gas union" with the participation of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Among its goals, the media cited the coordination of gas transit and its delivery to other markets, in particular to China.

In January, the energy ministries of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed cooperation plans with Gazprom. Initially, on March 1, it was reported about the plans to launch the transit of Russian gas, but the infrastructure was not ready for it.

The Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan, Almasadam Satkaliyev, set the deadline for the preparation of pipelines for the autumn-winter season of 2024 at the beginning of June. Soon Uzbekistan and Russia formalized the agreement on gas supply.

According to the terms of the contract concluded simultaneously between "UzGazTrade" and "Gazprom Export", up to 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied per year. In August, it was reported that Kazakhstan is discussing the issue of supplying 1.5 to 10 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to Uzbekistan.

In early October, the press service of the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan reported that the country's infrastructure is ready to receive Russian gas. Satkaliyev said that Kazakhstan expects to start transit by the end of October.

Source: Daryo.uz