DUSHANBE, November 14, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon yesterday met here with representatives of the World Bank and consulting companies conducting assessment studies for the Roghun Hydropower Project (Roghun HPP).
Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov and heads of relevant ministries and agencies of Tajikistan also attended the meeting.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, issues related to conducting assessment studies for Roghun HPP were in the focus of the meeting.
The meeting participants, in particular, discussed the results of the second information-sharing meeting that took place n Almay, Kazakhstan on November 6-7 as part of an ongoing assessment of the proposed Roghun HPP in Tajikistan.
Farrukh Hamraliyev, State Adviser to the President for Economic Affairs, Saroj Jha, World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia, and Ranjit Lameck, Head of World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Energy Unit, reportedly informed the Tajik president of the results of the second information-sharing meeting.
Representatives of a consortium led by Coyne & Bellier, which has conducted Techno-Economic Assessment Study (TEAS), and Poyry of Switzerland, which has conducted the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), also presented their reports.
Pavel Shestakov, Director of the Moscow-based Planning Institute “Gidroproekt,” and Khairullo Safarov, Director of OJSC NBO Roghun, also expressed their views on the course of assessment studies for the Roghun HPP, the source said.
We will recall that Tajikistan’s plans to build the Roghun hydroelectric power plant have raised serious concerns across the border in Uzbekistan. Uzbek officials argue that because it could take up to 18 years to fill, the Roghun project will severely reduce the amount of water flowing into Uzbekistan.
The Assessment Studies aim to examine the potential benefits and risks of the proposed Roghun HPP and comprehensively evaluate its technical, economic, social, and environmental viability based on international standards and practices and in accordance with the World Bank’s policies and procedures. The Studies will provide the Government of Tajikistan, the World Bank, the other Central Asian countries and the international community with information about key elements associated with the proposed Roghun HPP, such as the project’s technical soundness and safety, economic viability and compliance with all relevant environmental and social safeguards.
