Russian company Gazprom and its Central Asian partners are expecting a doubling of natural gas supply volumes from Russia, said Boris Marcinkevich, the chief editor of "Geoenergetika Info," Sputnik reports.
The increase in deliveries is anticipated to occur this year, according to Marcinkevich. "The figures, of course, are not large; according to the current contract, 2.8 billion cubic meters are supplied to Uzbekistan annually, starting from October 2023," the expert clarified.
However, he believes that the figure will likely reach 3 billion. Gazprom has indicated that Uzbekistan, which was a southern country before the onset of global warming, requested more gas due to cold weather, and Gazprom supplied it.
"There are no specifics about whom exactly the additional 3 billion cubic meters will be intended for. It is not excluded that the additional gas will not be superfluous for Uzbekistan, because the construction of gas power plants in the country is proceeding rapidly, at the same pace as in Russia," he added.
Additionally, in Soviet times, gas pipelines connecting the gas systems of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan were built, and they have been modernized in the post-Soviet period.
"There was already a message that an agreement had been reached to increase the gas supply by almost a billion cubic meters to Kyrgyzstan. After lengthy debates, two companies, Russian and Kyrgyz, managed to sign the corresponding memorandum," the specialist shared.
In the past year 2023, according to preliminary data, natural gas consumption in Kyrgyzstan was within the range of 800 million cubic meters, he explained.
The additional volumes are needed to supply Bishkek, as there is currently only one coal-fired power station operating there, which significantly pollutes the air.
It is not excluded that Kazakhstan will also take gas, where there are still problems with losses in the power grid, according to Marcinkevich.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
January 25, 2024