Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 8
By Fatih Karimov – Trend
Iran and Tajikistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a 500 kilovolt power transmission line, Hamid Chitchian, Iran’s energy minister, said.
The deal was signed on the sidelines of the 11th Iran-Tajikistan joint economic commission in Tehran, Fars news agency reported Nov. 8.
Under the deal technical and economic assessments of a joint 500 KV transmission line will be prepared.
The signed document also foresees a mechanism for paying off Tajikistan’s debts to Iranian contractors which constructed Sangtuda 2 hydroelectric power plant in Tajikistan.
Earlier Chitchian said that Dushanbe is not able to pay off debts to Iranian contactors as the Tajikistan’s electricity grid has been disconnected from neighbouring countries, and the county is facing problems to sell electricity.
Sattar Mahmoudi, the deputy energy minister of Iran said in May 2016, that Tajikistan should have paid $1 million per month for purchasing electricity from Sangtuda 2 hydroelectric power plant, constructed by an Iranian private company (Farab Co.) in this country, but during the last four years, Dushanbe has paid only $34 million to Iran.
Mahmoudi added that the power plant has faced financial problems due to payment delays and has stopped working several times.