Following a meeting of foreign ministers from CIS countries and the Central Asia-Russia format in Samarkand on April 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have made progress in deliberations over a trilateral gas union project.
“The three countries — Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan — including at the presidential level, have actively advanced discussions on this large-scale project, which will definitely strengthen energy security,” the Russian foreign minister said.
“There will be benefits for all, as there are gas suppliers, there are those who are interested in this gas. When the parties agree on the terms and conditions of transit, and on the terms and conditions of the price, if everyone is happy, then everyone wins,” he added.
Recall that in late November 2022, it became known that Russia proposed to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to create a “triple gas union. The Russian side then stated that this proposal did not imply the supply of gas in exchange for political terms, and that the matter is about the coordination of commercial interests.
Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov said in December, amid an energy crisis that began in Uzbekistan with the onset of cold weather, that Uzbekistan is in talks to import gas from its neighbours as part of a commercial contract, rather than through “some alliance or union”.
In January, the Uzbek and Kazakh energy ministries signed a road map for gas cooperation with Russia’s Gazprom.
