Bishkek, 12 December: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have still not succeeded in agreeing a natural gas price for next year, the director-general of Kyrgyzgaz (state-run natural gas supply company), Salamat Aytikeyev, said in an interview to the Kyrgyz newspaper Delo No... today. He was commenting on the preliminary results of bilateral talks on this issue. The outcome of the talks between the two states’ representatives have not been disclosed so far.

"We have still not signed an agreement for 2008, because in no way are we able to agree its price," Aytikeyev said. "We think that a price offered by Uzbekistan is too high," Aytikeyev added.

He, however, refused to name the price on which Uzbekistan is insisting, and said that Kyrgyzgaz was ready to pay 130 dollars for 1,000 cu.m. of natural gas. Aytikeyev still hopes that a price for the fuel exported from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan will be agreed by 20 December.

Kyrgyzstan also invited Tashkent to sign a long-term or at least a medium-term contract on the supply of Uzbek gas, because its price is growing annually, which is causing serious problems for Kyrgyzstan to draw up its state budget, ITAR-TASS reports.

In the past three years alone, Uzbekistan has increased the price of natural gas for Kyrgyzstan from 42 to 100 dollars for 1,000 cu.m.