Kyrgyz Government Considers Buying Turkmen Natural Gas – PM

Text of report by privately-owned Kyrgyz AKIpress news agency website

Bishkek, 26 September: Kyrgyzstan’s current debt to be paid to Uzbekistan for natural gas is about 2m dollars, Prime Minister Igor Chudinov said in parliament today during the discussion of an issue related to preparing economic sectors and the country’s people for the autumn and winter periods of 2008-2009.

An MP from the faction of the Social Democratic Party, Murat Dzhurayev, said that if Kyrgyzstan bought natural gas at 300 dollars this year it needed over 210m dollars or 8bn soms to buy it. The MP also asked how much Kyrgyzstan owed to Uzbekistan for natural gas.

Prime Minister Igor Chudinov said in answer to this question that if Kyrgyzstan consumed 750m cubic metres of gas this year it would pay 73m dollars to Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan currently owes 2m dollars to Uzbekistan. This, however, is the current debt for the previous month, he said.

“The debt for the supplied natural gas is repaid in 40-60 days’ time,” the prime minister said.

Dzhurayev asked whether Kyrgyzstan was holding talks with Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan on buying natural gas from these countries if Uzbekistan refused to supply gas in case of the River Naryn being declared a trans-border river. He also asked whether the Kyrgyz industry, energy and fuel resources minister, Saparbek Balkibekov, would sign an agreement declaring the River Naryn a trans-border river.

Chudinov said that the government was currently considering this option [Turkmen natural gas] and that talks were under way. According to him, Balkibekov does not have the power to sign an agreement, and only the government signs it. Then an inter- governmental agreement is to go through the ratification procedure in parliament.

Originally published by AKIpress news agency website, Bishkek, in Russian 0833 26 Sep 08.

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