The Government of Tajikistan has begun writing off part of debts of Barqi Tojik (Tajikistan’s national integrated power company).
Thus, the government has written off some 12.5 million somoni (equivalent to more than 1.5 million U.S. dollars) of Barqi Tojik’s debt to Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1 in exchange for reducing Sangtudinskaya GES-1’s tax debts by this amount.
As of January 1, 2017, Barqi Tojik owed some 655 million somoni to OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1, which operates the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP).
In 2016, Sangtudinskaya GES-1 sold about 2 billion kWh of electricity to Barqi Tojik at the rate of 20.1 dirams per one kWh.
To-date, Barqi Tojik has paid only 250 million somoni to Sangtudinskaya GES-1 for those 2 billion KWh of electricity.
Besides, Barqi Tojik now owes 458 million somoni to the Sangtuda-2 HPP, which was built with help of Iranian specialists.
As of January 1, 2017, Barqi Tojik debts amounted to more than 13.7 billion somoni. The company now owes 1.346 billion somoni to Orienbonk (Tajikistan’s largest commercial bank) alone.
Barqi Tojik tax debts have reportedly reached 51 million somoni due to purchase of coal and other types of fuels.
The national integrated power company owes 11 billion somoni to the Ministry of Finance due to attracting long-term loans in the power sector.
Meanwhile, its receivables now amount to more than 1.5 billion somoni (equivalent to more than 200 million U.S. dollars).
The most incorrigible nonpayers are the public (some 685 million somoni) and the Agency for Land Management and Land Reclamation (391.3 million somoni).
Recall, the strategy of managing fiscal risks from state-owned enterprises designed for the period until 2020, in particular, stipulates that for the purpose of curbing debt of Barqi Tojik at the level allowing it to carry out economic activity in long-term perspective there will be approved compulsory limit on general debt and expenses on servicing it and new borrowings.
Among the main reasons for commercial receivables are reportedly technical losses in power sector and the low rate of the collection of funds from the public, Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO), and irrigation pumping stations.
According to the strategy, the government will write off the error debt and introduce more effective measures of financial control.
