DUSHANBE, March 11, 2011, Asia-Plus — Inter RAO YeES CEO Boris Kovalchuk has arrived in Tajikistan for a working visit.
Today afternoon, Kovalchuk is scheduled to hold talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. They sides are expected to discuss issues related to state and prospects of further cooperation between the Government of Tajikistan and the company as well as operation of the Russian-built Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Tajikistan.
The Sangtuda-1 HPP is located on the Vakhsh River. Construction commenced during the Soviet period in the 1980s, but halted in the beginning of the 1990s due to lack of financing when the station was about 20% complete. An agreement with Russia allowed restarting the construction, with four units entering service in 2008–2009. The plant was officially commissioned on July 31, 2009. The station now reportedly provides some 15 % of Tajikistan”s electricity output.
The power plant is operated by Sangtudinskaya GES-1, a company controlled by Inter RAO YeES. Tajikistan owns 15.97 percent of the shares and Russian companies assume the 83.03% ownership interest in Sangtudinskaya GES-1.
Inter RAO YeES is a Russian energy company engaged in power generation and electricity trading. It has electricity export and import monopoly in Russia. The company was formed in May 1997 as a subsidiary of RAO YeES (Russia’s Unified Energy Systems) with the purpose of consolidating energy generation and sales in foreign markets. However, Inter RAO YeES started operating only in 2000. In 2002 it expanded into international energy sales. During the restructuring of RAO YeES, Inter RAO YeES was separated from RAO YeES.
