DUSHANBE, September 29, 2010, Asia-Plus — The Pamir Energy Company (PamirEnergy) does not plan to raise electricity rates within the next three years, the PamirEnergy director general Daler Jumayev said in a interview with Asia-Plus.
“We often hear that the rates are high. Meanwhile, the electricity prices over the past three years have been lower than the rates permitted by the concession agreement between the Government of Tajikistan and PamirEnergy,” said Jumyaev, “Under the terms of the concession for 2010, a 15-percent rise in electricity prices was planned this year, but taking into account hard living conditions in the region we raised the rates by only 12.3 percent.”
According to him, to provide social protection of the GBAO population, two types of subsidies were introduced: subsidy for early years; and subsidies for preferential use that was provided by the Swiss Government in a form of a US$5 million grant.
“The subsidy for early years was provided for 2002-2007 in order to mitigate effect of new rates during the transition period,” noted Jumayev. “The subsidy for preferential use has gone to covering the so-called socially required volumes of consumption. Due to this subsidy residential customers have paid at the rate of only 0.25 cent per one kWh of electricity for usage of 200 kWh of electricity per month during autumn-winter period (five months) and for usage of 50 kWh of electricity per month during spring-summer period (seven months).”
Current prices set by PamirEnergy for its customers in Gorno Badakhshan are 2.75 cents for residential customers and 5.16 cents for other categories of customers.
PamirEnergy is a joint project of the Government of Tajikistan, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). A total cost of the project is some 26.5 million U.S. dollars, including the Tajik government’s contribution of 10 million U.S. dollars.
The company has a 25 year concession on the assets formerly under the management on Barqi Tojik (Tajik electricity supplier) in Gorno Badakhshan. In exchange for this concession (management right), PamirEnergy has invested in completing the Pamir hydropower station, rehabilitating power generation, transmission and distribution assets, and improving the management of the company. The company now operates the Pamir-1 station, the Khorog station and nine small hydropower plants located in the region. A total capacity of these stations in winter period is now nearly 35 megawatt.
