Kazakhstan will start transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan from October
The National gas company of Kazakhstan, QazaqGaz, intends to start transporting Russian gas to Uzbekistan from October 2023, the company's press service said in a recent statement transmitted by TASS. Chairman of the Board of QazaqGaz Sanzhar Zharkeshov conducted an inspection of the infrastructure in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan, which will facilitate the transit of Russian natural gas to Uzbekistan through the Kazakhstan section of the Central Asia — Center main gas pipeline.
The gas transit project to Uzbekistan is being implemented in accordance with the approved schedule, all technical measures have been completed in accordance with the plan. The initiative appeared after the signing of a purchase and sale agreement between UzGasTrade and Gazprom Export, according to which Gazprom Export will supply up to 2.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Uzbekistan annually for two years.
Gas imports from Russia to Uzbekistan will be carried out via the Central Asia- Center gas pipeline using the reverse flow mechanism. To ensure this, the construction of a new gas measuring station in Uzbekistan is planned to be completed by September.
In November 2022, Russia proposed to create a "gas union" with the participation of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to coordinate gas transit and supplies to various markets, including China. Subsequently, the Ministries of Energy of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed plans for cooperation with Gazprom, which laid the foundation for the current gas transit project.
Despite initial plans to begin transit of Russian gas in March 2023, the infrastructure was not ready at that time. Nevertheless, both sides continued to discuss the "gas union", and in June 2023 Uzbekistan and Russia signed an agreement on the supply of Russian natural gas.
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