As part of his working visit to
Russia, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in a ceremony to
launch the transit of Russian natural gas through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan via
the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline. Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the solemn event as well. President
Tokayev emphasized that this is a historic event that takes the strategic
cooperation and interaction in the energy sector of Kazakhstan, Russia and
Uzbekistan to a new level. The project also plays a big role in strengthening
regional stability and energy security in Central Asia. It bears noting that in
general, more than 20,000 kilometers of main gas pipelines with an annual
throughput capacity of 255 billion cubic meters run across Kazakhstan.
“The project meets the interests
of all parties involved. Kazakhstan has completed the preparation of the trunk
gas pipeline on its territory on time and in full. The project will ensure
diversification of Russian gas export supplies, contribute to the expansion and
modernization of Kazakhstan’s gas transportation infrastructure and meet
Uzbekistan’s growing natural gas demand for up to three billion cubic meters
per year. It will also give a powerful impetus to the industrial development of
our countries, improving the business climate and raising citizens’ living
standards,” said the Kazakh President.
During a teleconference, Kazakh
Minister of Energy Almassadam Satkaliyev reported from the Makat compressor
station in the Atyrau region on the readiness of the Kazakh part of the Central
Asia-Center gas pipeline.
“The QazaqGaz national company
began accepting Russian gas into its gas transportation system for transit to
Uzbekistan. At the initial stage, a volume of nearly 2.8 billion cubic meters
of gas has been determined; this gas will be used to ensure the stable
operation of the energy complex of Uzbekistan, which is especially important
during the heating season and maintaining the required level of loads in the
unified energy system of the Central Asian countries. In order to carry out
this transit, a huge amount of work was done related to the repair of trunk
pipelines in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia. Besides, compressor stations
were modernized, and a new measuring station was built. This set of measures
made it possible to ensure transit,” shared Satkaliyev.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev meets with
Russian President Putin
After attending the ceremony, the
Presidents of Kazakhstan and Russia held bilateral talks and discussed the state
and prospects for further strengthening of strategic partnership between the
two countries. President Tokayev noted that Kazakh-Russian relations are
developing in a successful and multifaceted way. For his part, Vladimir Putin underlined
the high level of bilateral ties and the need to further bolster them.
