DUSHANBE, January 29, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik electricity supplier, Barqi Tojik, plans to repay its debt to open joint-stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1 gradually, the Barqi Tojik director Abdullo Yorov announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 28.

According to him, the Barqi Tojik administration held a working meeting with Vladimir Belov, director general of Sangtudinskaya GES-1 on this subject recently.

The sides agreed that part of 98 million somoni in arrears that Barqi Tojik now owes to Sangtudinska-GES-1, which runs the Sangtuda-1 HPP, will be repaid gradually during three months.  “In January, we will repay 14 million somoni, in February 15.5 million somoni and another 15.5 million somoni will be repaid in March,” Yorov said.

He added that power holding’s total debts now amounted to 407 million somoni.  In the meantime, residential customers alone now owe 115 million somoni to Barqi Tojik.  “As far as Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is concerned, it has repaid part of its debt and now owes 101 million somoni to Barqi Tojik,” the power holding top manager noted.