TASHKENT Uzbekistan's energy minister on Wednesday poured cold water on a Russian proposal for a gas union including the Central Asian country, saying that Tashkent would not agree to political conditions that would jeopardise its national interests.
Russia said last month it was talking about a gas union with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to support shipments between the three countries and to other buyers, including China.
It is part of a shift in Moscow's strategy since its invasion of Ukraine, which has caused the European Union to cut its reliance on Russian energy.
But the Uzbek minister, Jorabek Mirzamahmudov, said Uzbekistan had yet to receive the proposal.
If a gas agreement is concluded with Russia, this does not mean a union, he said. Negotiations were being conducted to deliver Russian gas by pipeline via Kazakhstan, but this would be a technical contract and not a union.
If we import gas from another country, we cooperate only based on a commercial sales contract. We will never agree to political conditions in exchange for gas. He said that we will only get the gas contract if we agree to it, otherwise we will not.
Uzbekistan's coolness towards the Russian proposal reflects Moscow's difficulty in imposing its will over other former Soviet republics at a time when it is increasingly bogged down by the war in Ukraine.
Uzbekistan is dependent on foreign gas, but it's partly dependent on foreign gas. The country, including the capital Tashkent, has had gas shortages over the last few days, as consumption has spiked due to a cold spell.
Mirzamahmudov said the cold snap had forced Uzbekistan to halt exports of 6 million cubic meters of gas a day to China.
He said that the country produces about 52 billion cubic metres bcm of natural gas a year, with imports of 4 bcm and exports of 2.7 bcm.