BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 21. The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) plans to allocate $500 million to finance
the Rogun hydropower plant in Tajikistan, including $200 million in
grants and $300 million in concessional loans.
According to the Ministry of Finance of Tajikistan, the issue
was discussed during two trilateral meetings in Bangkok, Thailand,
attended by Tajikistan’s Minister of Finance Faiziddin Qahhorzoda,
World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Antonella
Bassani, and ADB Vice-President for Sectors and Themes Wempi
Saputra.
The meetings were held on the sidelines of the annual meetings
of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
Furthermore, the parties discussed the participation of the two
international financial institutions in financing the project and
coordinating their activities to ensure the timely implementation
of the Rogun hydropower plant construction.
Particular attention was paid to applying the concept of full
mutual trust in the area of co-financing, which entails using
unified requirements and procedures for project appraisal,
procurement, and implementation monitoring. This approach is aimed
at preventing the duplication of procedures and accelerating the
mobilization of funding.
According to Trend’s calculations, the $500 million ADB plan
matches the amount Tajikistan asked the bank to provide in early
2025, which suggests the parties have moved from reviewing the
request to shaping the package: $200 million in grants (40%) and
$300 million in concessional loans (60%).
If approved, it would cover about 8% of the cost of completing
Rogun, which is estimated at $6.2-6.4 billion. Together with the
World Bank’s approved $650 million and the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank’s $500 million, financing from these three lenders
would reach about $1.65 billion, or roughly a quarter of the
estimated cost.
