In March, the State Energy Supervision Service of Tajikistan discovered illegal use of electricity for cryptocurrency mining at three enterprises in the country, as well as in private homes.
The violations were identified at enterprises in Jaloliddin-Balkhi district and Levakant city in Khatlon province, in Dushanbe, and in Istaravshan and Khujand cities in Sughd province. The damage reportedly amounted to more than 130 million somonis (US$12.1 million).
These details were presented at a recent meeting of the State Energy Supervision Service, where the results of the department's work for the first quarter of 2025 and plans for the rest of the year were discussed.
Representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Barqi Tojik, Electricity Distribution Electric Network, and some other relevant agencies participated in the event.
According to the head of the State Energy Supervision Service, Gholib Ubaidullozoda, it was discovered in March that the Orioi Kolkhozobod LLC located in the Jaloliddin-Balkhi district, had been using electricity for cryptocurrency mining through three transformer substations with a total capacity of 7,300 kVA (1×1000 kVA, 2×3150 kVA). This was done without proper energy accounting and necessary documentation, resulting in damage amounting to more than 110 million somonis (illegal consumption of 81 million kWh).
In Levakant, Paymonai Zarrin LLC consumed 7.1 million kWh of electricity for cryptocurrency mining, leading to damage of 9.9 million somonis, while Sementi Rushdi Khatlon LLC consumed 6.4 million kWh, resulting in damage of more than 9 million somonis.
Illegal use of electricity for cryptocurrency mining was also recorded in residential homes in Dushanbe, Khujand, and Istaravshan, leading to damage of a total of more than 465,000 somonis (illegal consumption of 366,000 kWh).
As a result of joint inspections with the General Prosecutor's Office of Tajikistan, the State Energy Supervision Service reportedly revealed that in three districts of the country, local electricity networks had “overcharged” the general population for unused electricity by inflating its cost.
In Vahdat, the overcharge amounted to 5.2 million somonis, in Roudaki – 0.5 million somonis, and in Shahrinav – 1 million somonis. Most of the affected individuals were ordinary residents who were charged inflated amounts by local electricity network employees.
In total, over the first quarter of 2025, the State Energy Supervision Service has issued 293 violation reports, with the damage amounting to over 2.5 million somonis (US$233,000).
Additionally, the service specialists, in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, identified more than 40 other violations, with a total sum exceeding 1 million somonis. Measures have been taken against the violators in accordance with Tajikistan's legislation.
It is worth noting that residents of Tajikistan often complain about notifications from electricity network controllers regarding arrears, despite the fact that subscribers have paid the full amount according to the meter readings. In such cases, representatives from some local electricity networks make claims against subscribers, asserting that their meters are faulty, and forcing residents to install new meters, which must be purchased exclusively from the electricity network representatives.
