KULOB, April 6, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- The Vose central district hospital with a total of 214 beds has topped the list of the most incorrigible defaulters on electricity bill among the federally funded institutions in Khatlon’s Kulob region.

The hospital now owes 30,000 somoni to the Kulob power supply network.

An official source at the hospital says they are not able to pay for electricity under new tariffs that took effect on April 1.  “Only some 9,000 somoni have been allocated to the hospital for this year for payment for electricity while we now need at least 25,000 somoni,” he noted.

According to the Kulob health department, funds that are annually allocated to local health facilities for payment for electricity are enough to cover not more than 35-40 percent of expenses.

Meanwhile, the Kulob power supply network says electricity debts of local federally funded institutions have reached nearly 1 million somoni.