BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Gas imports to Uzbekistan in 2020 amounted to $50.4 million, which is 237.1 times more than in 2019, Trend reports with reference to the State Statistics Committee report on foreign trade turnover.
At the same time, gas exports from Uzbekistan in value terms in 2020 decreased 4.7 times - from $2.2 billion to $478.1 million.
It was noted that the reason for such decrease was the suspension of gas exports to Russia, as well as a threefold decrease in supplies to China amid COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was only at the end of November that it became known that LUKOIL had almost completely restored gas production at projects in Uzbekistan to the design level,” the message says.
According to the committee, gas production in Uzbekistan in 2020 decreased by 10.8 billion cubic meters, or 17.8 percent, compared to the previous year - from 60.5 billion to 49.7 billion cubic meters.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on December 16 that there is a gas deficit in Uzbekistan of 20 million cubic meters of gas per day. He instructed to reduce the volume of gas exports, due to this, an additional 7-8 million cubic meters of gas will be directed to the needs of the population.
According to the information, since the beginning of 2020, Russian Gazprom has hardly bought any natural gas from Uzbekistan. The company reported zero imports from Uzbekistan for 6M2020, and it received 20 million cubic meters of Uzbek fuel during 9M2020. In 2019, Gazprom bought 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas in Uzbekistan.
Earlier it was reported that according to the draft State Program for 2021, it is planned to abolish the duty on the import of liquefied gas and create a wholesale market for electricity and gas from March 1. It was noted that large enterprises will be able to obtain the right to import energy resources.
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