DUSHANBE, January 4, 2009, Asia-Plus — On Thursday January 1, Turkmenistan suspended electricity supplies to Tajikistan.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Rashid Gulov, an engineer-in-chief with Barqi Tojik (Tajik electric systems) power holding, said that Turkmenistan had suspended electricity supplies because Tajikistan had not yet signed an electricity transit agreement with Uzbekistan. According to him, Turkmenistan supplied 400 million kWh of electricity to Tajikistan in 2008 autumn. “This winter and early spring Turkmenistan is to supply another 800 million kWh of electrical power to Tajikistan,” the engineer-in-chief said.
He further added that suspension of electricity supplies from Turkmenistan would not affect Dushanbe.
We will recall that under the provisions of an agreement signed between Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in 2007, Turkmenistan will annually supply 1.2 billion kWh of electricity to Tajikistan in autumn-winter season during the period till 2012. Turkmenistan began supplying electrical power to Tajikistan on November 1, 2008.
Turkmenistan supplies electricity to Tajikistan via Uzbek power systems. An agreement on transit of Turkmen electrical power to Tajikistan via Uzbek power systems was reached during a meeting of President Emomali Rahmon with his Uzbek counterpart, President Islam Karimov, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan last month on sidelines of summits of the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC). The final decision on this subject was reached in Almaty, Kazakhstan on October 18.
According to the Barqi Tojik top manager Sharifkhon Samiyev, Tajikistan pas to Turkmenistan for electricity at the rate of 3 cents per 1 kWh. Besides, Tajikistan should pay to Uzbekistan for electricity transit at the rate of 0.3 cent per 1 kWh.
