"Before this weekend, Tajikistan was receiving 40,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas per hour. As of last night, we are receiving around 22,000 cubic meters," the deputy head of Tajikgaz, Shavkat Shoimov, told journalists.

"The reason is the debt that our company has with our Uzbek partners, which is around $7 million," Shoimov said.

Uzbekistan cut gas supplies to Tajikistan by a third during an unusually cold winter earlier this year as part of the same row, AFP reported.

Uzbekistan, an ex-Soviet Central Asian state, raised the price of its gas exports to neighboring countries from $100 to $145 per 1,000 cubic meters starting in January.

Tajikistan depends almost entirely on gas imports from Uzbekistan.