Russian energy giant reveals strategy to replace EU markets

Russian energy major Gazprom is planning to expand natural gas supplies to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan through the Central Asia-Center (CAC) pipeline system, CEO Aleksey Miller has revealed.

Speaking at a plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum on Wednesday, Miller noted Gazprom’s successful decades-long cooperation with the three countries on numerous projects.

“This is a new milestone. We are establishing a long-term contractual basis for our partnership. We have defined the scope for cooperation with colleagues from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan for 15 years ahead,” Miller stated. He added that the parties aim to establish the contractual basis for collaboration by mid-2024.

According to Miller, Gazprom is looking to further expand Russian gas supplies to the three countries, as well as increasing gas transportation capacities in Kazakhstan through the CAC gas pipeline system. He noted that this will involve transit capacities as well as direct supplies of Russian gas to consumers in Central Asia.

Built between 1960 and 1988, CAC is a 4,892km onshore pipeline project operated by Gazprom. Its natural gas pipelines run from Turkmenistan via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Russia.

Russia has been diversifying energy supplies since the EU stepped up efforts to lower its oil and gas imports from the country as part of Ukraine-related sanctions.

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