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Upper Naryn cascade. RusHydro files lawsuit to return $ 37 million

RusHydro Company filed a lawsuit in the Hague to return $ 37 million spent on the construction of the Upper Naryn cascade of hydropower plants. The head of the National Energy Holding of Kyrgyzstan Azamat Abdykadyrov confirmed the information to 24.kg news agency.

The General Director of RusHydro, Nikolai Shulginov, in an interview with Vedomosti newspaper, previously reported that the composition of the arbitration court in the Hague had already been determined.

«Currently we are waiting for concrete work of the court. There were negotiations, but without results. We work strictly under the 2012 intergovernmental agreement. They (Kyrgyzstan. — Note of 24.kg news agency) in 2016 unilaterally terminated it and must now buy out our share — 50 percent of our joint company to compensate us for the costs. We legally demand return of our money — $ 37 million, issued as a loan. And we do not demand interests, we are ready to make concessions. They tried to find an investor who would buy our share, but failed. We said that we were ready to help, were open for constructive negotiations, but there is no concrete clear actions,» he noted.

Azamat Abdykadyrov knows that the trial starts, but he hopes that Kyrgyzstan will be able to reach an agreement with the Russian side without a court.

«Nothing prevents us from negotiating. Attempts have failed so far. Processes in the Hague last for years. We will solve this issue at the government level. The Kyrgyz side still insists on conducting a joint audit, but the Russian side does not support this proposal,» explained the head of the Energy Holding.

In 2012, Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the Upper Naryn cascade of hydropower plants, consisting of four stations. Verkhnarynskiye Hydro Power Plants CJSC was created for construction of the cascade, half of which belonged to RusHydro on the Russian side, and the second half to Electric Stations OJSC.

In 2016, the agreement was unilaterally terminated. By that time, RusHydro had invested $ 37 million of its own funds in the project.

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