The lie of “Barki Tojik” and the sale of electricity to the Taliban

The company “Barki Tojik” has increased electricity sales to neighboring countries, particularly to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Photo: Internet

According to official information, on February 1, 2023, the company “Barki Tojik” imposed a limit on electricity supply, although just 20 days earlier, Emomali Rahmon instructed the company to lift the limit.

Previously, since September 2022, restrictions on electricity supply had also been introduced in most regions of Tajikistan. Typically, residents experienced power outages at night from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM and during the day from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, however, the company “Barki Tojik” never officially acknowledged that a limit on electricity had been imposed.

On January 11, 2023, the President of Tajikistan officially confirmed the introduction of restrictions on electricity supply to the population, and according to the agency “Khovar”, by the president’s directive, “as of January 11 of this year, all restrictions on electricity supply throughout Tajikistan have been lifted.”

However, despite the fact that residents in most regions of the country still suffer from power outages, recently the company “Barki Tojik” stated in its address to the public that “starting from February 1, 2023, a restriction on electricity transmission will be introduced in the country.”

The company explained the reason for the official introduction of restrictions as follows:

“According to observations, taking into account the gradual increase in demand for electricity within the country, the volume of its production in the period ending in January 2023 increased by 300 million kWh compared to the same period last year, which is 14% more than the previous year.”

At the same time, the day before, the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Daler Jum’a, reported that in 2022, a record amount of electricity was produced in Tajikistan – over 21 billion kWh, which is the highest figure in the entire history of the country’s energy sector.

During this period, the third unit of the Sarband Hydroelectric Power Station was commissioned after reconstruction, and in October 2022, the first unit of the Nurek Hydroelectric Power Station was commissioned after reconstruction.

During this period, electrical substations “Rudaki” with a capacity of 100/10 kV in the Vose district, “Voznavd” 110/35/10 kV, and “Dashtaki Vanch” 110/35/10 in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region were also put into operation.

The Ministry of Energy of Tajikistan reported that after the reconstruction of electrical substations in 2022, the country “produced 775.7 million kWh or 3.8% more electricity compared to 2021.” For this reason, sales of electricity to neighboring countries increased.

Uzbekistan was one of the main consumers of Tajik electricity. Despite the fact that Tashkent imports electricity from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan simultaneously supplies 256 MW of electricity to Afghanistan.

However, this year, due to abnormal frosts, natural gas supplies decreased, resulting in a severe electricity shortage in Uzbekistan. For this reason, Uzbekistan was unable to fulfill its obligations to Afghanistan in a timely manner. The supply of electricity from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan was suspended for about two weeks, and residents of Kabul began to express their dissatisfaction.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, urged Uzbekistan to continue electricity supplies to Afghanistan in accordance with the agreement signed between the two countries.

As reported by the BBC, on January 25 of this year, two days after the statement from the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan promised that Uzbekistan would fully meet its obligations and resume electricity supply to Afghanistan within the next 24 hours at a volume of 256 MW. According to some reports, Uzbekistan supplies these 256 MW to Afghanistan at the expense of imported electricity from Tajikistan.

The recent address of the company “Barki Tojik” to the public has caused a resonance on social media, with residents believing that the company is once again deceiving the population at the instruction of Emomali Rahmon. The electricity produced in Tajikistan is sufficient for all residents of the country, but the authorities do not provide for their citizens and sell it to neighboring countries.