Kyrgyz delegation again heads to Uzbekistan for gas talks

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A Kyrgyz delegation is leaving for Uzbekistan today for a third time, as the [two] countries have yet to reach an agreement on the price of gas, sources at the Kyrgyzgaz joint-stock company’s press service have told the AKIpress news agency.

The Kyrgyz delegation will be led by the minister of industry, energy and fuel resources, Ilyas Davydov; and the managing director of the Kyrgyzgaz joint-stock company, Salamat Aytikeyev.

Davydov earlier told the AKIpress news agency that Uzbekistan was insisting on a price of US$300 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas, which will be supplied to Kyrgyzstan in 2009, whereas in 2008 the price was US$145 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Davydov said that Kyrgyzstan could not afford to pay US$300 per 1,000 cubic meters. "Therefore, we will prove with calculations and facts that we cannot pay this price and will ask that a price of US$145 per 1,000 cubic meters be retained for us," he said.