Kazakhstan's authorities intend to commence the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan by the end of October. This announcement was made by Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliev during a briefing.
"At present, the repair works in Kazakhstan are nearing completion. These works involve construction and the allocation of a separate line for gas metering. I believe that once these tasks are finished in the near future, we will be able to announce the commencement of gas transit," Satkaliev stated in response to a question about the timeline for Russian gas deliveries to Uzbekistan.
He further mentioned, "As per the schedule, the work is expected to conclude by the end of this month."
"We are currently finalizing the gas volumes in accordance with the application from the Uzbek side. Once we receive the application, we will provide the exact transit volume," the minister clarified.
In August, Satkaliev told reporters that Kazakh authorities were discussing the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan within the range of 1.5 billion to 10 billion cubic meters. He pointed out that this gas transit arrangement would be economically advantageous for Kazakhstan, resulting in additional revenues for the country. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan had previously announced ongoing preparations on the Kazakh section of the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline for the transportation of Russian gas to Uzbekistan, with a scheduled completion date of October 1, 2023.
In November 2022, Russia proposed the formation of a "triple gas union" involving Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to coordinate the commercial interests of the three nations in the gas sector. In January 2023, the energy ministries of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a cooperation plan with Gazprom. Kazakhstan emphasized that its decision would be based on the economic viability of the proposal, without attaching any political significance to the project.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS