Tariffs for population lead to funds shortage in energy sector of Kyrgyzstan

Tariffs for the population of Kyrgyzstan lead to a deficit in the energy sector. This was announced today at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for the Fuel, Energy Complex and Subsoil Use by the World Bank expert Katharina Gassner.

According to her, Kyrgyzstan is lucky as it has extensive hydropower sources. However, the state of the sector is unsatisfactory. The infrastructure is worn out, failures occur frequently.

Each kilowatt-hour produced does not cover costs. The debt of the energy sector is 20 percent of GDP. Instead of being the engine of growth, it brings only losses.

Katharina Gassner

She added that commercial tariffs provide cost recovery. Tariffs for household consumers lead to a shortage of funds in the industry. Central heating can not grow to cover the needs of the population. «85 percent of the population is forced to use stove heating even in cities, and no alternatives are expected in the near future,» Katharina Gassner said.