Uzbekistan withdraws from Unified Energy System of Central Asia

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1/12 Tass 214

DUSHANBE, December 1 (Itar-Tass) - Uzbekistan officially withdrew on
Tuesday from the Unified Energy System of Central Asia, sources from the
Uzbek Embassy in Dushanbe confirmed, stressing that "Tashkent warned the
authorities of Tajikistan about its decision beforehand".
Uzbek Ambassador Shokasym Shokarimov stressed earlier that "the
decision was made proceeding from the economic inexpedience of taking part
in the Unified Energy System of Central Asia, whose activity has been
inefficient and uncontrolled after the collapse of the USSR".
As an example he mentioned the accident at the Nurek hydropower
station on November 9, which had a systemic nature and left the biggest
part of Tajikistan and part of border regions in Uzbekistan without
electricity.
In the existing situation, Tashkent sees the way out "in energy
cooperation on the basis of bilateral intergovernmental agreements in line
with international practice".
The head of the Uzbek state energy holding Barki Tojik, Sanat
Rakhimov, told Tass on Tuesday that "practically Uzbekistan broke the
unified energy ring back on October 29". He admitted that the decision of
Tashkent "will complicate to a certain extent the problem of energy supply
in the country, taking into consideration impossibility of its transit
flow from Turkmenistan upon an agreement with Ashgabat in the
autumn-winter period".
However, "these are temporary difficulties," he stressed. According to
him, within the next few years, Tajikistan will satisfy its electricity
demands after the commissioning of the first stage of the Rogun hydropower
station and the Sangtuda hydropower station 2 constructed with the help of
Iran, as well as the attainment of projected capacity at the Sangtuda 1
hydroelectric power plant.
At the present moment, electricity is supplied in the country only
seven hours a day.
In the Soviet era the Unified Energy System of Central Asia united key
energy facilities in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan. It incorporated over 80 electric power plants with the common
network of power transmission lines and the coordinating centre in
Tashkent, ensuring a stabile functioning of the energy systems of each of
the republics.
-0-zhe/gor