Afghanistan is the biggest importer of Tajikistan’s electricity, but the Taliban now is unable to pay, and Tajikistan must decide if it should keep exporting power to help the movement ward off humanitarian crisis.
Last year, electricity accounted for almost 65 percent of Tajikistan's exports to Afghanistan. Dushanbe needs the money. Eurasianet says that according to the United Nations, the poverty rate has jumped during the pandemic, with 30-40 percent of the population forced to cut back on food intake.
Afghanistan imports about half its electricity from its three post-Soviet neighbors to the north. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are eager to do business and say they have no intention of pulling the plug.
A spokesman for Barqi Tojik (Tajikistan’s national integrated power company) reportedly said the company can afford to be patient, for now.
Nozirjon Yodgori told Eurasianet that since the Taliban took power in mid-August, Tajikistan has not received a dime. But he is optimistic: The contract was signed with the Afghan company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS — Afghanistan’s national power utility), which told Barqi Tojik in late September that it would pay as soon as Afghan banks can resume international transfers.
“We have contracts not with the government, but with a private company. We are constantly in touch, and our partners assure us that the payment for electricity will take place in the near future,” Yodgori said.
In any case, Yodgori added, Tajikistan has excess capacity in the warmer months. The country generates most of its electricity with hydropower dams. Because it discharges water for irrigation, it has a surplus of power in the summer. Therefore, Barqi Tojik does not see the summer transfers as a loss.
Recall, Tajikistan supplies electricity to Afghanistan via two power transmission lines – 110 kV power transmission line and 220 kV power transmission line. The price of one kWh of electricity supplied via the 101 kV power line is 3.0 cents and the price of one kWh of electricity supplied via the 220 kV power line is 4.5 cents.
Citing an official with DABS, Sputnik Tajikistan reported on October 5 that Afghanistan now owe 1.1 million U.S. dollars to Tajikistan in power debt.
