Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has secured an agreement from Uzbekistan to start building a new gas pipeline to Russia in a deal that bolsters Moscow’s sway over Central Asian energy supplies. Uzbek President Islam Karimov, after meeting with Putin in Tashkent, announced that the new pipeline would carry up to 30 billion cum of gas from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, boosting Russian imports by 50%. Gazprom will set up a joint venture with Uzbekneftegaz to construct the Uzbek leg of the pipeline along the existing transit route that begins in Turkmenistan and runs through Kazakhstan before reaching Russia, the Russian company said in a statement. The four countries adopted a plan in May 2007 to expand that route, and Uzbekistan, which is sandwiched between Turkmenistan to the south and Kazakhstan to the north, was the first to move ahead with the plan. The existing transit pipelines in the area, known as the Central Asia-Center and Central Asia-Urals pipelines, have the capacity for 54bcm, Karimov said. Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan plan a separate pipeline that would also take Turkmen and Kazakh gas north to Russia. The pipeline would transport 20bcm, and construction is scheduled to start late this year or early next year.
