Articles tagged with: Roghun
Translation of TajikVoice‘s post (RUS).
The report begins here.
Real stories from ordinary people:
Rustam, owner of a small vegetable stand:
People from the Hukumat (local administration) came to me and asked whether I had donated money for Rogun (the dam project). I said I hadn’t. They told me I had one week to purchase stocks in the construction project, and if I didn’t show them proof within a week, I wouldn’t be able to do my business here. So I went to buy 200 somoni (approx. $45) worth of socks today. I’m curious, how much the president and his children contribute?
The Roghun power plant construction site. Image from the Flickr profile of ASIA-Plus. Click on it to see more.
Editor’s note: Officials of Tajikistan, Central Asia’s poorest republic, are forcing its 7 million inhabitants to buy stocks in a dam project and donate money for its construction. It’s an innovative statist solution to resolve Tajikistan’s historic electricity problems — but is it at the cost of regional security and personal liberty? This is a translation of TajikVoice‘s post (RUS). Also check out this editorial by neweurasia’s Botur.
The Roghun hydroelectric dam was a long-term Soviet industry project, developed in Tashkent in 1976. According to the latest blueprints, the height of the dam will be 335 meters, making it the world’s tallest. Its projected power is 3600 megawatt, with an average annual output of 13.1 billion kilowatt hours. Uzbekistan has objected to the construction, arguing it would give Tajikistan control over the region’s main water supply, thereby threatening the security of lower-lying countries.
It should be noted that, according to intergovernmental agreements, the Russian company RUSAL was supposed to have finished construction on the dam; however, three years ago Tajikistan withdrew from the agreement, accusing the Russian side of not fulfilling its obligations. At the same time, it was announced that the dam belonged to the people, and that Tajikistan would finish construction on its own. “Tajikistan” is an abstract concept. In this case, it meant the people of Tajikistan. Several attempts were made in 2008 and 2009 to start a national fundraising campaign.
It was unclear even then how a poor country with a high level of corruption could handle a $3 bn project. Recent figures cite $1.3 bn – the number needed to activate the first part of the dam (two out of six assembly units). Under the most favorable conditions, this will take at least 4 years. But then Tajikistan’s president, Rahmon, devised a bold solution.
It’s funny: our old Soviet tradition of giving names to new bornes is slowly being revived.
A child was born on January 5, 2010 to a happy Bobokhonovs family (which was a day before Rakhmon’s Rogun hydro electric plant project’s shares selling out plan started). Following good old traditions such as naming children after remarkable events, this Tajik family’s grandpa decided to name his grandson after the Rogun dam. The name given to the boy was Rogunshakh.
Peculiarly, on the same day as Rogunshakh’s birth, Rogun’s dam shares began selling out. His grandpa hopes that when Rofunshokh becomes a big boy he’ll work on becoming a student of the Energetic Institution and later work on the station.
On the wave of happiness grandpa bought shares for 1000 somoni ($230) and still wants to make his contribution and buy more for 2000 somini ($460).
Great beginning for such kind of event as shares’ selling out, huh?
Image by neweurasia's Schwartz (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: The Tajik government has recently instituted fees for information requests from journalists and the general public. In this editorial, neweurasia’s Botur examines how putting a price tag on information will only serve to hurt freedom: “Information is the lifeblood of democracy”.
In today’s world when just about every country is striving to improve its transparency, accountability and public access to information (or at least pretend to), the Tajik government once again decides to swim against the stream.
Last week the government issued a decree that envisions charging fees for reimbursement of costs incurred by providing information to news organizations and the public. The fee has been set at 10 cents per page or $10 per 100 pages. Consider that the average salary in Tajikistan is $70 per month, not to mention that there are barely two dozen functioning newspapers and news agencies, all of whom are strapped for cash.
Yesterday we celebrated our 17th independence day. Probably this is one of the main holidays in Tajikistan which is widely celebrated in our country. But many people ask themselves do we really need this independence? When we were part of Soviet Union we had a better life: no problems with food, education, medicine, electricity, warmth, security, and finally we were confident about our future. What we have now? Almost nothing of the above mentioned.
I agree that there was a Civil War and we had a worse time, but the war ended 11 years ago. The situation doesnt get better. We are stuck in our problems. We can not move forward. We do not have resources to be independent. Today we are dependent on everything and everyone. One example is energy. Gas comes from Uzbekistan, oil from Kazakhstan and Russia. Electricity during the winter times comes from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
We have only water to generate electricity. Scientists assure us that we have an abundance of water to generate electricity, but this summer showed that we do not have it. We can not even fill with water one reservoir Nurek water reservoir. And, how we are going to fill some more which are going to be built: Sangtuda 1 and 2, Rogun? If we do not have enough water, what else do we have? The answer is again almost nothing.
Then, how come that we are independent, if we depend on everything? I think, no one cares about the political independence, if there is no economic independence.
The poorest country in Central Asia, Tajikistan initiated the most expensive trial in the history of British legal proceedings. Tajikistan will pay 120 million USD for the legal fees which represents 5,2 percent of the country’s entire GDP. A bone of contention is the Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco), fully owned by the state. The Tajik side accused its partners of fraud. Read the full story »
The mayor of Dushanbe and Chairman of the Tajik Parliament’s Upper Chamber Mamadsaid Ubaidulloev proposed a strange way to raise funds for construction of Rogun hydropower station – one of the biggest energy projects in Tajikistan. He calculated all salaries of the Dushanbe residents and drew a conclusion that if all of the working people in the city give up half of their wages in May and June, it will constitute about $10 million. The power plant reportedly requires about $1 billion more, but in fact nobody knows the real amount of money necessary for completion of the construction. Read the full story »
In todays world cooperation is a key to development and there is no other way to combat poverty, health etc. as well as new era challenges related to environmental problems, international terrorism, human trafficking and so on and so forth. In the end of January, 2007 a two-day conference was held in Dushanbe to gather people who think the same. It was entitled Security as a basis for strategic relations between Russia and Tajikistan. It covered various topics that in some way have an impact on the relations between these two states. One of the topics discussed was the tensions between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and possible solutions of this challenge.
Heated debates regularly take place in the media, conferences, and meetings on all levels etc. to identify the root of this problem and finally find the way out. It is for sure that the problem is complex and comes from both the history and current political and economical conditions.
Officially, everything is OK. We have established diplomatic relations, both are members of regional organizations such as SCO, CIS and encouraging EurAsEC.
So what are the existing problems between these two countries? I do not want to go into history and blame the national delimitation (Natsionalnoe Razmejivanie) that occurred back in 1924-1925. Let us leave the past in the past. The major problem today, in my opinion, is the lack of trust on one hand and ambitions on the other hand that resulted in visa regime, mining of common borders, negative statements regarding Rogun power station construction and subsequent obstacles for trade, lack of air communication, etc.
Why cannot Uzbekistan abolish visa regime while being the member of EurAsEC? Why cannot we continue construction of Rogun power station together on mutually beneficial way? Why cannot we remove obstacles for trade and launch weekly flights to contribute to economic development?
Certainly, these steps would have a positive impact. Possibly, cooperation is the only way to gain prosperity in the region. Tajiks and Uzbeks have more in common than any of other nations in Central Asia, we both strive for development and all these should serve as an irrefutable reason and basis for improvement of our relations.
These days Tajikistan is still suffering of the energy crisis and it seems that it will endure for a long period. In addition to many other problems in this sector, yesterday the main hydroelectric power station Pamir-1 in eastern part Tajikistan went out of service (RUS) due to a cramp reason. Different sources give different information about the reason. Some of them even say that there was an explosion. This hydroelectric power station was providing with electricity almost all parts of the Pamir region. Previously it was reported that only this part of Tajikistan is not suffering of the energy crisis.
It was an unusual winter for Tajikistan and it made the government realize that it can not have reliance only on hydroelectric power stations like Norak or Rogun and they have to find other sources of energy. Recently on the governmental meeting under the chairmanship of Rahmonov there was approved a Program on renewable sources of energy (RUS). It is expected to overcome the crisis in ten years after the realization of this program. However, it is not the first time this kind of program is approved. The previous one was the same but nothing was done. I think this program has the same fate. I assume that it was approved in order to make the population think that the government is doing something to solve the problem.
I believe that if the government will take measures and start effectively implementing the Program on renewable sources of energy it can solve the problem to some extent. At least it should not make artificial obstacles for the people when they try to develop alternative sources of energy. There are many examples of how people find different sources of energy (RUS) and effectively use it, but the local officials instead of supporting such initiatives they try to kill them in roots.
For example in
In Zargar village, near Vahdat one farmer Mahmadali Odinaev is effectively using a biogas unit. Thanks to the unit he has a gas in his house for almost five years In 2002 Mamadali spent 500 USD for this unit: he bought a steel barrel (10 tons), a pipe, an air-gauge and gas valves. Then he got some consultations from the experts in Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and started to construct his unit. After that he filled the steel container with organic wastes and hermetically closed it. Within 18 days there was supported a fermentation of the wastes and the result of this fermentation was gas which could be used in the kitchen Mamadali says that local officials came several times to his house and asked him to dismantle it…
Usually, governments create favorable conditions for the investments. In Tajikistan is happening the reverse, the investors are already in the country and ready to start working but some high officials are slowing down the process on purpose. The Russian investors are upset with the actions of their Tajik colleagues. Regnum is citing the newspaper “Fakti i kommentarii”, which published the interview with the head of RUSAL representative office in Tajikistan, Konstantin Zagrebalnyi. He denies the accusation that RUSAL is delaying the deadlines for construction of Rogun hydroelectric power station and blames Tajik officials for that.
How can anyone blame us for delaying the deadlines, while we have received only ten responses to our fifty requests from Tajik side, and all three requests of the World Bank are left without any attention. The Tajik officials have attributed words to President Vladimir Putin, which he never pronounced. Particularly, Putin never said that the construction of Rogun hydroelectric power station is going to be funded from the budget of Russian Federation. I dont know when President of Russia said that, but you can not find such information in any mass-media. We will not move ahead with such announcements! Irresponsible announcements of Tajik officials are only subject to bewilderment for Russian members of the Intergovernmental Commission and officials of other departments involved in the project.
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