"Uzbekistan offered to sell Gazprom 16 billion cubic metres (of gas) in 2009," Karimov said at a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and managers of Gazprom, Russia’s gas export monopoly.

"We are ready to supply even more," Karimov said.

Uzbekistan is ready to sell Russia up to 31 billion cubic meters of natural gas this year, the country’s president Islam Karimov said on Friday.

"We’ve offered Gazprom 16 billion cubic meters of gas for export this year, but we are ready to provide more," Islam Karimov said. "Considering LUKoil has been granted permission to increase gas production in this country, we can supply another 15 billion cubic meters of gas."