Uzbekistan imported nearly 300 million cubic meters of gas from Russia, the Energy Minister Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov announced at the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum in Samarkand.

Uzbekistan began importing gas from Russia via Kazakhstan on October 7 to cover part of the deficit of gas in the country in the autumn-winter period. A gas sales contract was entered into for two years, the volume of purchases will be 9 million cubic meters per day - about 2.8 billion cubic meters per year.

However, as you can see, deliveries are proceeding at an fast pace - with approved supplies (9 million cubic meters per day), it would take 33 days to reach 300 million cubic meters.

He again refused to announce the price of gas imported from Russia and Turkmenistan, citing confidentiality, as well as the ministry’s forecasts for the volume of gas exports to China for this and next year.

Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov reported that this year Uzbekistan had imported 1 million tons of oil and oil products, which is slightly more than in 2022. In the future, the country plans to increase oil imports to meet the needs of a growing economy.

“Yes, we signed it during our recent visit [to Russia]. And there are no indication to volumes, the most important principle is the supply itself. The main thing is that there are no restrictions on supplies,” he commented on the signing of an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on oil supplies.

In January-September, Uzbekistan imported more gas in value terms than it exported (487.9 million versus $411.7 million). In September alone, $286.1 million worth of gas was supplied from Turkmenistan, which is 40% more than in the previous eight months.