Gazprom turns its back on Turkmenistan, switches to Uzbek gas purchases

Gazprom and Uzbekneftegaz have signed a contract for the purchase of 4 billion cubic meters of Uzbek gas in the current year, according to a memorandum of Gazprom to the new issue of Eurobonds, PRIME business news agency reported.

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"In December 2015, we signed a contract with Uzbekneftegaz for the purchase of Uzbek gas in the amount of 4 billion cubic meters in 2016," the document says.

In early January, head of Gazprom Alexei Miller reported that in 2016, the company intends to increase gas purchases from Uzbekistan. The previous contract for the purchase of gas from Uzbekistan and the agreement on transportation of gas through the territory of the country for the period from 2013 to 2015 were signed by Gazprom in December 2012.

Read alsoUkraine discussing oil and gas supplies from TurkmenistanThe contract with "Uzbekneftegaz" was sealed against a background of strained relations between Gazprom and a Turkmen State Concern Turkmengaz. The two companies are in a dispute over the price of Turkmen gas for the Russian company. In particular, in mid-2015, Ashgabat accused Gazprom of not paying its debts for the supplied volumes of Turkmen gas since the beginning of 2015.

Read alsoGazprom files lawsuit against TurkmenistanIn June 2015, Gazprom appealed to the Stockholm arbitration with a claim against Turkmengaz on the revision of gas prices.

In mid-January, Turkmengaz reported that Gazprom on January 1, prematurely terminated their contract, naming as the reason serious violations of the deal by Turkmengaz.

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