Tajik-Russian agreement on Sangtuda 1 HPP guarantees full return on investments - Tajik energy minister

DUSHANBE. July 28 (Interfax) - The agreement signed by Russia and Tajikistan on the Sangtuda 1 Hydroelectric Power Plant will guarantee a full return on investments, Tajikistan's Energy and Water Resources Minister Daler Juma told journalists.

"The Sangtuda 1 HCC plays a key role in the republic, producing 12% of its electricity supply [...] Together with our Russian colleagues, we have conducted intensive and lengthy discussions over the last few years. We have been able to restructure the financial model of the project. First and foremost, the agreement guarantees a full return on investments for both sides," Juma said.

He said that more time was needed in order for this to happen. "We have extended the timeline for the return of the investments. Some debts have accumulated. The parties have agreed to write off these debts gradually. But to have the debts written off, OJSC Barqi Tajik [the state-owned company Tajikistan Energy], the sole buyer of electricity on the territory [of Tajikistan], needs to fulfil some very important conditions, paying current electricity bills within the deadlines," the minister said.

Juma said that this was the seventh month that the parties were using this model.

"This restructuring showed that the agreements which the parties have made are achievable. We will hold on to this. Despite the writing off of debts, the investments will be returned and this will enable Barqi Tajik, as Tajikistan's sole buyer of electricity, to improve its financial situation substantially; this is how we will guarantee that investments are returned," the minister said.

The press center of OJSC Sangtuda 1 Hydroelectric Power Plant said that electricity supplies in January-March 2025 had totaled 666.09 million kWh, up 48.39 million kWh compared to a year previously. The plant used 46.3% of its installed capacity in the period.

"Since the beginning of 2025, OJSC Barqi Tajik has paid off an average of 34% of the cost of current electricity supplies. Its debts increased by 172.59 million somoni in the first quarter and reached 3.43 billion somoni as of March 31, 2025," the company's press center said.

Sangtuda 1 HPP was established in February 2005 to complete the construction and further operation of a hydroelectric power plant on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan. The company said on its website that the stake held by Russian companies in its charter capital was 75% minus one share, while Tajikistan's stake was 25% plus one share.

Russia and its energy companies invested over 16 billion rubles in building Sangtuda 1 HPP as part of a strategic electricity partnership with Tajikistan. The plant's first hydropower generation unit was commissioned in January 2008.

The plant's installed capacity is 670 MW. It is the fifth tier of the Vakhsh Cascade of hydroelectric power plants and is one of Tajikistan's three largest HPPs, along with the 3000-MW Nurek Dam and 600-MW Baipaza Dam.