Talks on an agreement on delivery of the Uzbek gas to Kyrgyzstan for 2008 began in Tashkent on Tuesday, an official of the national Kyrgyzgaz Company said.

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov told journalist on Monday, "Kyrgyzstan will get gas. Its price is currently determined, but the country will get 950 million cubic meters of gas in 2008. It is even bigger than in 2007," Chudinov said.

At the previous talks the Kyrgyz side proposed 130 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters of the Uzbek gas but Tashkent plans asking a higher price for its gas. Kyrgyzstan paid 100 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas in 2007.

According to information from the Kazakh capital Astana, Kazakhstan is also discussing prices for the Uzbek gas.

"A process of drafting of the final text of the agreement is underway in Tashkent," Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan Sauat Mynbayev said.

According to the minister, "there were serious risks regarding prices for natural gas until recently because the Uzbek side demanded 185 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters of gas."

At the same time the minister hopes that Uzbekistan will not critically change its prices for Kazakhstan in the first six month of the year.

Uzbekistan plans raising the gas price for Tajikistan to 180 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters, which is 1.8 times higher than in 2007.

"The price demanded by Uzbekistan is too high and may trigger a new round of inflation," Director General of the state-run enterprise Tajikgaz Fatkhiddin Muskhiddinov told reporters.

Tajikistan planned to increase purchase of the Uzbek gas from 650 million cubic meters in 2007 to 950 million cubic meters in 2008.

Uzbekistan has also failed to settle gas prices for 2008 with the Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom. "A Gazprom delegation headed by CEO Alexei Miller and Uzbek governmental officials have failed to conclude an agreement on prices for the Uzbek gas and tariffs for transits of Turkmen gas for 2008," Uzbek mass media report.

Miller visited Tashkent on 20-21 December and met with Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov.