DUSHANBE, January 27, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Conducting negotiations to arrange fuel deliveries to Tajikistan will be one of priorities of activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nizomiddin Zohidov remarked this at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 27.

“170,000 tons of oil products that will be delivered to Tajikistan from Russia this year free of duty are not enough and we will work in this direction,” Zohidov said.

Tajikistan was exempted from paying Russian tariffs on oil and gas exports from 1995-2010.  On May 1, 2010, Russia cancelled Tajikistan''s tax exemption and the Russian government has regulated the export duty on light oil fro Tajikistan since last year.

The deputy minister also noted that expert commissions of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation were continuing negotiations on the use of the Ayni airfield and continued presence of a Russian military base in Tajikistan.

The Ayni airfield belonging to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) is located in Hisor district, some 25 kilometers west of Dushanbe.  It was used as a military base during the Soviet era, but its infrastructure has deteriorated significantly since then.  The airfield was renovated in mid 2000s under financial support and technical assistance of India.