Aug 24, 2007 - BBC Monitoring Central Asia (Excerpt from report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency)

Astana - Tajikistan will be ready to export to Kazakhstan up to 2.5bn kWh of electricity per annum once the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station is commissioned, Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov has said.

"After the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power station is put into operation, we will have an opportunity to export up to 2.5bn kWh of electricity to Kazakhstan in the summer period," he said in Astana today at a joint news conference with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov.

"To this end, we have started the construction of a power transmission line from northern Tajikistan in order to extend this line to southern Kazakhstan to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply," Oqilov said.

The head of the Tajik government also noted that this issue was discussed during talks with the Kazakh counterpart.

As is known, southern Kazakh regions experience power shortages, and this issue is especially acute in the winter period.

Originally published by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0610 24 Aug 07.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Central Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

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