"We have no disagreements over the volume of gas that the Uzbek side is planning to supply to our country. There are misunderstandings on prices," he said. The prime minister reminded that Uzbekistan was ready to export gas to Kyrgyzstan in 2009 at the price of US$300 for 1,000 cubic meters The Kyrgyz side is insisting on US$145. This is the price at which Kyrgyzstan bought Uzbek gas in 2008.

"We are asking our partners to provide economic explanation. Last year they tried to convince us that gas prices were fixed according to a universal formula taking into consideration current oil prices. We are making calculations now, but cannot arrive at US$300," Igor Chudinov said.

However, he hopes that talks with the Uzbek side will produce a positive result. "Among other things, there is an intergovernmental agreement in line with which we must supply 600 million cubic meters of water and correspondingly, 600m kWh of electricity to Uzbekistan. In return, we must receive gas in order to produce electricity at the thermal power station in Bishkek using it," the prime minister noted.

Representatives of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are expected to resume talks on gas prices on 25 December in Tashkent.

The Kyrgyz minister of industry, energy and fuel resources, Ilyas Davydov, will represent Kyrgyzstan at the talks.