Baku, Azerbaijan, March 10
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
The latest energy agreement between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan will help the countries solve both energy and water issues, Deputy Head of the CIS States Institute Vladimir Zharikhin said in an interview with Sputnik Uzbekistan.
According to the expert, the water issue has always been very sensitive for the Central Asian states, because there was no compromise between the countries that have plenty of water resources and the states that have problems in water supply.
“Considering the common challenges and threats, such agreements serve as a stabilizer for the region. Finally, the problems glooming over interstate relations in Central Asia have been solved,” Zharikhin stressed.
The main problem, according to the expert, is the inability of countries to achieve a compromise in the water use.
"However, progress is clear. By the example of the Uzbek-Tajik agreement one can see that countries involved in such agreements get mutual benefits. Tajikistan is now able to raise its power production and sell the excess to neighboring countries, while Uzbekistan may now implement more advanced irrigation methods, such as the drip irrigation,” the expert concluded.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev commenced an official visit to Dushanbe on March 9. The Uzbek-Tajik heads of state discussed all points of cooperation, including economy, humanitarian issues, energy projects and border issues.
Earlier, Tajikistan announced that it will begin supplying electricity to Uzbekistan in late March or early April 2018. The total volume of export will be at least 1.5 billion kilowatt hours a year.