DUSHANBE -- Uzbekistan has decreased its flow of natural-gas supplies to neighboring Tajikistan by 50 percent over a debt dispute, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
The deputy head of TajikTransGaz, Shavkat Shoimov, told RFE/RL that Uzbek authorities cut supplies after the Tajik gas distributor failed to pay a reported $17 million debt by June 15.
Shoimov said the current volume of gas delivered from Uzbekistan is barely enough to sustain the operations of Tajik aluminum-producer Talco.
Many other industrial facilities have reportedly had to suspend their operations.
Tajikistan's major cement-producing plant has sent all its workers on an unpaid holiday.
The deputy head of TajikTransGaz, Shavkat Shoimov, told RFE/RL that Uzbek authorities cut supplies after the Tajik gas distributor failed to pay a reported $17 million debt by June 15.
Shoimov said the current volume of gas delivered from Uzbekistan is barely enough to sustain the operations of Tajik aluminum-producer Talco.
Many other industrial facilities have reportedly had to suspend their operations.
Tajikistan's major cement-producing plant has sent all its workers on an unpaid holiday.