High Tajik officials discussed plans to develop hydro-power

Prime Minister Akil Akilov November 28 chaired a working meeting of relevant ministers and agency directors to discuss issues related to design and construction of small and mid-sized hydro-power stations, News.tj reported November 28, quoting a source in Akilov’s secretariat.

Akilov gave the conferees specific instructions to accelerate work on hydro-power stations presently under construction, as well as instructing them to design new hydro-power stations on the Vakhsh River. He told them to soon prepare designs for new stations, technical-economic feasibility studies and financing plans, the secretariat source said.

Meanwhile, Tajik Foreign Minister Khamrokhon Zarifi November 27 stressed the need for Tajikistan to develop its hydro-power potential, CA-News.org reported November 28. Zarifi gave his remarks at a EU-Central Asian foreign ministers’ conference. More than 70% of the Tajik population suffers power and heat shortages for six to seven months in the autumn and winter, he said.
Tajikistan’s only viable resource for economic development is hydro-power, he added.