Russia has reached an agreement with the central Asian country of Uzbekistan on key pricing principles for imports of natural gas, the Interfax news agency said Tuesday citing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Putin gave no figure on how much Russia's state-controlled gas company OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) will pay for Uzbek gas, but said the sides had agreed on a "European pricing formula".
Gazprom is forced to pay higher prices for the natural gas it imports from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, amid growing competition from the West and China for access to the gas of the ex-Soviet countries.
Earlier this month, the company said it could spend $20 billion to buy central Asian gas in 2009, instead of $8 billion this year.