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Gazprom has increased gas supplies to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by nearly 70% so far in 2026. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller announced the increase on September 4 but did not disclose how much gas each of the three countries received. The most significant changes are taking place in Uzbekistan. Until recently, the country was a major gas producer and exporter, but in 2023 it became a net importer. Since then, Tashkent has increased purchases from Russia and Turkmenistan. In 2025, Gazprom supplied Uzbekistan with 6.48 billion cubic meters of gas, 15% more than a year earlier. Russian gas reaches the country through Kazakhstan via the Central Asia–Center pipeline system. Built during the Soviet era to carry Central Asian gas northward to Russia, part of the system now operates in reverse. Supplies continue to rise. The International Energy Agency expects Russian gas supplies to Uzbekistan to exceed ten billion cubic meters in 2026. The reason is evident in Uzbekistan’s own production figures. The country produced 18.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the first half of 2026, down 16.4% from a year earlier. Gas imports reached $971.7 million. Russia and Turkmenistan remain the main external suppliers. Tashkent is trying to reverse the decline. Uzbekneftegaz has ordered new wells to be brought online and 16 existing wells to be overhauled, measures intended to add a combined 4.36 million cubic meters per day to production. Kazakhstan is in a different position. It produced 68.2 billion cubic meters of gas in 2025, but marketable gas production was only 27.4 billion cubic meters. Kazakhstan has also become the transit link between Russia and Uzbekistan. Part of the increase reported by Gazprom also reflects direct supplies to Kazakhstan, although the company has not provided a breakdown among the three countries. Kyrgyzstan’s gas market is considerably smaller. The country consumes around 500 million cubic meters a year and is more dependent on imports. Bishkek has signed long-term agreements with Gazprom for gas supplies to the planned CHP-2 and Bishkekselmash power plants through 2040. The increase in Central Asian sales comes as the geography of Russian gas exports has changed dramatically. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sharp decline in deliveries to Europe, Gazprom has been looking for more customers to the east and south. China remains Russia’s largest gas market outside the former Soviet Union. Russia expects to supply China with around 50 billion cubic meters of gas this year. Power of Siberia is already operating at around its design capacity, while another route from Russia’s Far East is scheduled to begin deliveries in January 2027. Moscow and Beijing are also discussing a major new pipeline from Western Siberia through Mongolia. Central Asia, however, is not becoming an exclusively Russian gas market. Turkmenistan remains a major supplier to Uzbekistan, while Uzbekistan in particular is rapidly adding solar and wind generation, helping limit gas demand for power generation. But the direction of gas flows has already changed in a literal sense. The Central Asia–Center system was once built to carry...
Russian gas deliveries to Uzbekistan increased by 15% in 2025, reaching nearly 6.5 billion cubic meters, according to Gazprom’s annual report, as reported by TASS. The report shows that supplies rose from 5.64 billion cubic meters in 2024 to 6.48 billion cubic meters in 2025. Gas was delivered through Kazakhstan using the Central Asia-Center pipeline system in reverse-flow mode. Gazprom said exports to Uzbekistan increased throughout the year, with deliveries in the fourth quarter reaching the maximum technical capacity of the route. The company also reported a 22.2% increase in overall gas exports to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan in 2025. The growth in Russian supplies comes as Uzbekistan faces declining domestic gas production. Earlier this year, The Times of Central Asia reported that the country’s natural gas output fell by 15% in the first quarter of 2026. According to Uzbekistan’s National Statistics Committee, the country produced 9.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas between January and March, compared with 11.3 billion cubic meters during the same period a year earlier. Production declines were also recorded in other energy sectors, including oil, coal, and gas condensate. Uzbekistan began importing Russian gas under a contract signed with Gazprom in June 2023. Deliveries started in October of that year as the country sought additional supplies to meet growing domestic demand, particularly during the winter season. In October 2025, the Russian government said Gazprom was continuing to implement a contract providing for annual gas supplies of up to 7.7 billion cubic meters to Uzbekistan. Officials also noted the potential for further increases in export volumes. Energy cooperation between the two countries has expanded in recent years. In 2024, Gazprom signed agreements with Kazakhstan on the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for the period from 2025 to 2040. The same year, Uzbekistan announced plans to modernize its gas transmission network and raise its capacity for Russian gas imports from 9 million cubic meters to 32 million cubic meters per day.
Russian natural gas exports to Central Asia increased by 15% in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller announced at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (PMG Forum 2025), according to TASS. Miller cited rapid economic growth across the region as the key driver of rising energy demand. He projected that Central Asia’s economy could expand by as much as 60% over the next five to six years, with natural gas playing a central role in meeting growing energy needs. “When we compare the first eight months of 2025 with the same period in 2024, the volume of Russian gas supplied to Central Asia, namely Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, rose by 15%. These are substantial volumes,” Miller said. Miller also pointed to the importance of major infrastructure initiatives, including projects under the Power of Siberia-2 megaproject, in expanding gas supply routes to the region. In 2024, Gazprom reported a doubling of gas exports to Central Asia between January and August. At that time, deliveries to Uzbekistan had reached maximum technical capacity through the Central Asia-Center pipeline, meeting peak demand typically seen during the coldest months of winter. The latest increase in exports highlights Central Asia’s growing strategic value to Russia as an energy market, as well as deepening energy cooperation between Moscow and the region.
Russia continues to try to reorient its natural gas exports from Europe to Asia and is planning a new pipeline route to China that would pass through Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan stands to benefit not only from transit fees, but could also import some Russia gas for regions in northeastern Kazakhstan that are desperately in need of more energy sources. The Russian plans are bad news for Turkmenistan as China is Turkmenistan’s main gas customer and Turkmen authorities were hoping to sell China even more gas. On November 15, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak mentioned the pipeline plan on the sidelines of a Chinese-Russian forum in Kazan, Russia. Novak said such a project is still only being discussed, but Russian media outlet Kommersant wrote on November 18 that there are already three options for the pipeline. All three possibilities pass though northeastern Kazakhstan, but Kazakhstan’s level of participation in the pipeline is different in each variation. One of the projects would require Kazakhstan to build a pipeline for gasification of the northeastern Pavlodar, Abai, and Karaganda provinces. A second proposal would include only the Abai and Zhetysu provinces. Russian gas giant Gazprom’s financial obligation also changes depending on the pipeline project selected. The most expensive option for Gazprom would cost more than $10 billion to construct and would not operate at full capacity until 2034. All versions foresee at least 35 billion cubic meters of Russian gas (bcm) shipped via the pipeline with Kazakhstan receiving some 10 bcm, which would greatly alleviate recent power shortages in northeastern Kazakhstan. Despite Novak saying the pipeline project was only being discussed, Kazakhstan and Russia appear well along in their planning. In early May, Kazakh Ambassador to Russia Duaren Abayev gave an interview to Russia’s TASS news agency and mentioned there was a “roadmap” for supplying 35 bcm of gas to China via Kazakhstan. Russia already exports gas to China via the “Sila Sibiri” (Power of Siberia) pipeline and expects that in 2024 the pipeline will for the first time reach its full capacity of 38 bcm. Construction of Sila Sibiri-2 with a planned capacity of some 50 bcm has been delayed due to China’s reluctance to loan Russia money for construction, differences over price, and China’s increasing purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Novak commented on Sila Sibiri-2, saying the pipeline project involving Kazakhstan was separate and the Russian government will continue to negotiate with China about construction of Sila Sibiri-2. Russia is seeking to replace its former main customer, the European Union. Prior to the Kremlin launching its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022, the EU was buying between 150-160 bcm of Russian gas annually. The EU sharply cut back on Russian gas imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine and in 2023 imported less than 43 bcm. Russia’s pivot to Asia for gas exports targets the Chinese market, but Gazprom is looking to take any possible Asian customers and has found some in Central Asia. Russia’s surge into the Asian...
As reported by TASS, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, announced that from January to August 2024, the company doubled its gas supply to Central Asia. According to Miller, the rapid economic and social development of the republics has opened up significant new opportunities for Gazprom, with gas supplies to Uzbekistan now at the highest possible level. "For example, the gas supply applications we submit for Uzbekistan are currently being fulfilled through the Central Asia Center gas pipeline at the maximum technical capacity, equivalent to the levels used during the winter season. This is the same level of supply we provided to Uzbekistan last winter when they experienced unusually cold weather,” stated Miller. Citing the fact that Kyrgyzstan’s gasification rate has doubled and continues to grow, he explained, “A lot of work has been done to reconstruct the gas transportation system of Kyrgyzstan. New gas transportation facilities have been built. But what is also important is Gazprom Kyrgyzstan has implemented socially significant projects in Kyrgyzstan, as is customary at Gazprom.” The Times of Central Asia previously reported that in June, Gazprom signed agreements for gas supplies to Kyrgyzstan and with Kazakhstan on the transit of Russian gas in the direction of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for the period 2025-2040. To ensure transit, a specially designated route based on the Central Asia–Center gas pipeline system will be expanded and implemented. In June 2023, Uzbekistan signed a two-year gas purchase agreement with Gazprom. Daily supplies amount to 9 million cubic meters, and annual supplies amount to almost 2.8 billion cubic meters. Supplies under this agreement began on October 7, 2023.
At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024, Gazprom Export LLC and Gazprom Kyrgyzstan LLC signed a long-term contract for the supply of natural gas by Russia to Kyrgyzstan. Deputy General Director of Gazprom Kyrgyzstan Arzamat Aldayarov announced that Russian Gazprom is now set to double its supplies of 'blue fuel' to Kyrgyzstan from 2025-2040. He stated that the Bishkek Thermal Power Plant will switch completely to gas from 2026. In addition, the Kyrgyz authorities are planning to launch several more stations near Bishkek, which will also operate on Russian raw materials. Arzamat Aldayarov added that the development of a five-year roadmap for providing gas throughout Bishkek was imminent and referencing plans to build 250–300 kilometers of gas pipelines annually, connecting 13–15 thousand apartment buildings to supplies, said, “Currently, a lot of electricity is spent on heating, which puts pressure on city networks. We are looking for other sources of heat. We want to completely gasify residential areas and switch them to gas heating."
