16:18, 06 февраля 2020, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Darya PODOLSKAYA
Deputies of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan discuss ratification of an agreement with the Asian Development Bank on modernization of Uch-Kurgan hydroelectric station.
ADB helped to draw up a feasibility study on a grant basis. The cost of modernization of Uch-Kurgan hydroelectric station according to it will be $ 160 million. The money will be used to replace electromechanical equipment and hydraulic units, reconstruct hydraulic structures, clean the reservoir and strengthen the dam of the hydroelectric station.
ADB will provide $ 100 million: $ 40 million — grant, $ 60 million — loan. The Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) will provide another $ 45 million loan.
The Government is supposed to co-finance the modernization in the amount of $ 15 million in the form of exemption from taxes and fees on imported equipment and services within the project.
Deputy Almazbek Akmatov noted that the Uch-Kurgan hydroelectric station should be modernized by a domestic company. «In such a way we will avoid scandals and courts, and the money will be in the country,» he said.
Parliament member Ainuru Altybaeva asked how the National Energy Holding would repay the loan. The head of the agency, Aitmamat Nazarov, assured her that the funds would come from the export of electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and recalled that the ADB and EFSD loans were preferential.