The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB)’s website notes that the Government of Tajikistan and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) have reached an agreement on further cooperation for rehabilitation of the Nurek hydroelectric power plant (HPP).
The EFSD mission reportedly visited Tajikistan last week in the frameworks of the First Phase of Nurek Hydropower Rehabilitation Project. The mission members visited the Nurek HPP to get acquainted with a general technical state of the plant.
While in Dushanbe, the EFSD delegation met with Tajik Minister of Energy and Water Resources Usmonali Usmonzoda, Frist Deputy Finance Minister Jamshed Karimzoda, First Deputy Head of Barqi Tojik (national integrated power company of Tajikistan) Mahmadumar Asozoda and experts from the World Bank, which participates in the project.
The sides reportedly discussed measures being taken by the Government of Tajikistan and international financial organizations for rehabilitation of the Nurek HPP.
The objectives of the First Phase of Nurek Hydropower Rehabilitation Project for Tajikistan are to rehabilitate and restore the generating capacity of three power generating units of Nurek hydropower plant, improve their efficiency, and strengthen the safety of the Nurek dam.
The Nurek HPP, with an installed capacity in excess of 3,000 megawatts, is the key asset of Tajikistan’s energy system. Its rehabilitation is central to the Government’s efforts to provide reliable electricity supply, especially during the winter months. The power plant, which generates about 70 percent of total annual energy demand, suffers from dilapidated equipment and infrastructure. The facility did not go through major rehabilitation since it was commissioned in 1972; it is currently only 77 percent operational.
The Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (the former EURASEC Anti-crisis Fund) is an international financial institution established by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan with the goals to assist its member states in overcoming the consequences of global financial crisis, to ensure their long-run economic stability and to foster economic integration of EFSD member-countries. The Fund assists member states with the following instruments: financial credits, available to governments only; investment loans, provided either to EFSD member states or to companies implementing interstate and national investment projects; grants to finance government programs in social sector.
EFSD credits and loans are repayable, have finite maturity, carry interest and are extended in US Dollars or Euros. While lending to low income countries, EFSD is guided by International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations on loan concessionality. The prospective borrower should have no debt arrears to the Fund itself, to any of its member countries, or to other international financial institutions.
