Gas cooperation between Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has good prospects for the future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Bishkek after the meeting of the Supreme Council of the EAEU, TASS reports.
"[Gas cooperation] is good, big, very promising work. And with good prospects for the future. We will work. This work has begun," President Putin said. He stressed that such interaction requires systematic work at the expert level, miscalculations, financial coordination and participation of each country in investments.
Moscow, Astana and Tashkent are fully prepared for joint work and joint investments, so solutions on gas cooperation "can definitely be found," and in the future it will be possible to talk about an energy alliance of the three countries, Putin said.
The President of Russia drew attention to the fact that the growing economies of the EAEU countries, as well as the obligations of countries for export, will lead to an increase in the volume of energy consumption.
"All this makes it necessary for us to compare watches, see how it all works and what we can do additionally. Can we or not? Yes, we can," he stated.
Putin also dwelled on the peculiarities of the gas infrastructure of the three countries and noted that it requires development and large financial investments.
In particular, it is required to create a more extensive gas network in Russia to supply gas to Central Asia. Its construction will cost 260 billion rubles, Putin said. In addition, the gas pipeline between Kazakhstan and Russia, created back in the USSR, requires repair and expansion, and to transport gas from Kazakhstan to the territory of Uzbekistan, it will be necessary to build a separate pipeline system.
Earlier, on November 28, Putin held talks in Moscow with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss the creation of a "triple gas union" with Uzbekistan. The press secretary of the head of the Russian state, Dmitry Peskov, explained that at the first stage, it is about creating a coordination mechanism on Putin's initiative. Later it became known that we are talking about cooperation in the processing and supply of gas, including to new export destinations.
The meeting of the heads of the EAEU states took place in Bishkek on December 9. Tajik President Emamoli Rahman did not attend. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who was planning to come to the meeting, unexpectedly canceled his trip to Bishkek and postponed his official visit to Kyrgyzstan until the end of December 2022.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 10, 2022