The Central Bank’s governor Mamarizo Nurmuratov replied to a question about Uzbekistan's dependence on Russia in energy supplies at a press conference on October 31.

Dependence on a single supplier always creates risks, the governor Nurmuratov admitted.

"As for imports from a single country, it is important for us at what price those energy resources are being imported and sold on the domestic market. This is an appropriate and correct question, because dependence on one supplier and possible disruptions in logistics, of course, can affect domestic prices. We tried to take this risk into account and voiced our vision, opinion to the government when forming import parameters. Attachment to one entity in any circumstances creates certain risks," he said.

Earlier, the Central Bank underscored that in the coming months, the risks associated with energy supplies and changes in their prices, disruptions in the supply of certain goods, could result in a galloping inflation.

Uzbekistan has been importing gas from Russia since October 7, 2023 via Kazakhstan to cover part of the gas deficit in the autumn-winter period. A two-year gas purchase contract was entered for two years, the declared purchase volume is 9 million cubic meters per day, or about 2.8 BCM per year.

Supplies of Russian gas to Uzbekistan is now at over 5 BCM, the spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said recently. According to the Statistics Agency, gas imports for January-September reached $ 1.28 billion, which is 3.6 times more than the figure for the first nine months of 2023.

At the beginning of 2023, the volume of gasoline imports to Uzbekistan increased several times. In the first four months of that year, 335.2 million liters were delivered, which is almost 2 times to the entire last year. The total value of imports topped $ 136.67 million, or $ 0.4 per liter. Almost the entire volume came from Russia.

Last year, Russia imposed a ban on gasoline exports from September 21 to November 17. Uzbekistan's Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov reported that this affected the gasoline situation in the country.

In 2023, Russian oil supplies to Uzbekistan reached 154.3 thousand tons, by the end of 2024, it is planned to increase the volume to more than 500 thousand tons.