Uzbekistan plans raising natural gas prices for Russia and neighbouring Central Asian countries, Itar-Tass reported. Earlier, a similar step was taken by another gas-rich Central Asian country, Turkmenistan. Talks on an agreement on delivery of the Uzbek gas to Kyrgyzstan for 2008 began in Tashkent on Tuesday, an official of the national Kyrgyzgaz Company said. Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov told journalists on Monday, "Kyrgyzstan will get gas. Its price is currently determined, but the country will get 950 million cubic meters of gas in 2008. It is even bigger than in 2007," Chudinov said. At the previous talks the Kyrgyz side proposed 130 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters of the Uzbek gas but Tashkent plans asking a higher price for its gas. Kyrgyzstan paid 100 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas in 2007. According to information from the Kazakh capital Astana, Kazakhstan is also discussing prices for the Uzbek gas. "A process of drafting of the final text of the agreement is underway in Tashkent," Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan Sauat Mynbayev said.
