By Alimat Aliyeva

Turkmenistan has stopped supplying natural gas to the Russian company Gazprom after the parties failed to agree on a new fuel price, Azernews reports.

This was announced by Chairman of the state concern Turkmengaz Maksat Babayev at a press conference within the framework of the international exhibition and conference "Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan - 2024".

"The contract provides for a review of prices during this period. If the parties agree on the price, then an extension was possible. We also held negotiations on the commercial part and did not find a common understanding. Therefore, according to the terms of the contract, if the parties do not agree, the contract must be terminated from June 30. That's what we did," he said.

Babayev added that Turkmengaz is currently negotiating with various gas buyers.

"We are currently undergoing rapid changes. Demand is increasing from various sides - north, west, and east. We can say that every day we are at the stage of negotiations with various buyers. Turkmenistan has always been in favor of diversifying export routes. And today we are interested in new directions of the route and an increase in gas volumes under existing contracts or directions," the head of the state concern added.

"We are considering relatively short-term contracts. And here, to a greater extent, it is the commercial part that is the main condition for starting, stopping or resuming deliveries. It is from the point of view of benefits and mutually beneficial cooperation that purchase and sale contracts are considered," Babayev added.

According to the statistical handbook of the Energy Institute, in 2023 and 2022 Turkmenistan exported 4.7 billion cubic meters of gas to Russia.