DUSHANBE, April 26, 2010, Asia-Plus — To-date, 76 million somoni (equivalent to 17.3 million U.S. dollars) of an amount collected from selling shares in Roghun have already been spent for construction of the Roghun HPP, Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov told reporters in Dushanbe on April 26.
According to him, 72.5 million somoni have been paid as the first tranche to Ukraine’s Electrotyazhmash and Turboatom for delivery of equipment for the first two units of the station.
The minister also noted that a public commission to ensure transparency of use of public money raised for the construction of the plant has been operating since April 17.
We will recall that President Emomali Rahmon last month ordered the establishment of a public commission made up of journalists, members of NGOs, and other non-governmental representatives to report every 10 days on the use of public money to construct the Roghun hydroelectricity power plant.
“Shares in Roghun will be put up for sale at Tajikistan’s Stock Market within the next few days,” Najmiddinov added.
As of April 22, the government collected 814 million somoni, including donations made by individuals and businesses, for construction of the Roghun HPP.
Najmiddinov noted that that Tajik labor migrants working outside the country have purchased shares in Roghun for 2.5 million somoni to this day.
Tajikistan has issued 6 billion somoni ($1.37 billion) worth of Roghun shares, which officials have said is how much is needed to begin producing electricity at two units at the station.
