Iranian President Inaugurated New Hydroelectric Plant in Tajikistan

On 12 September Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad along with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon inaugurated Tajikistan’s new Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power facility. Ahmadinejad said, "The Iranian and Tajik nations cannot be separated from each other and we will always remain beside the Tajik nation."

Iranian journalist Jora Yusefi said, "The Sangtuda-2 power plant is the second-largest Iranian project in Tajikistan. According to the contract, it will be fully transferred to Tajikistan after 12 years of use by the manufacturer. This contract, without a doubt, has better conditions compared to Sangtuda-1, which Tajikistan has signed with Russia, and this issue is very difficult for the large countries in the region that think of Tajikistan as their own in regard to its geographical and political situation. After the completion of this project, the Iranian government is considering building projects similar to this power plant on Tajikistan's Zarafshan River, which were previously supposed to be built by China but were cancelled due to pressures by the Uzbek Government," Iran’s Mashad’s Qods Online newspaper reported.

Six years ago Iran signed an agreement with Tajikistan to construct the 110 megawatt Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power plant on the Vakhsh River in the Khatlon region, 99 miles south of the capital Dushanbe.

By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com