Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev noted that Kazakhstan is also ready to provide the necessary infrastructure for transit of the Russian gas to Uzbekistan.

The Kazakh authorities are interested in the transit of Russian gas through the territory of the republic to Uzbekistan and are ready to provide the necessary infrastructure for this. This was announced by the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Almasadam Satkaliyev, TASS reports.

Uzbekistan and Gazprom continue negotiations on the volume and price of gas. The Kazakh side has declared that it is ready to ensure technical readiness for gas transit through our territory. As soon as these negotiations are completed, we will be ready to provide our infrastructure,” he said, speaking in the lower house of parliament.

The head of the department noted that “already in the autumn-winter season of next year” such infrastructure will be ready. “We are interested in this transit both in terms of obtaining funds for transit, and in general within the framework of increasing the reliability of energy supply in the Central Asian region,” Satkaliyev explained.

In mid-May, the minister said that the Kazakh authorities were discussing the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan. In April of this year, the Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov reported that gas supplies to Uzbekistan from Russia are planned to be carried out through the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline.

In November last year, Russia proposed to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to create a "tripartite gas union" to coordinate the commercial interests of the three countries in this area. In January of this year, the Ministries of Energy of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a cooperation plan with Gazprom.