Kyrgyzstan terminates the agreement with Russia on the construction of a hydropower plant.
The implementation of the Kambar-Ata-1 hydropower project and the Upper Naryn cascade of hydropower plants, the construction of which began back in 2009, was supposed to involve a 50% equity participation between Kyrgyzstan and Russia. The future Kambar-Ata hydropower plant was expected to generate 4.4 billion kWh of electricity, covering not only the electricity needs of Kyrgyz citizens but also turning Kyrgyzstan into an electricity exporter. Against these plans was the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, who repeatedly criticized Kyrgyzstanis and Tajiks at the international level for their Rogun hydropower project, accusing neighbors of attempting to appropriate the shared wealth of transboundary rivers. In October 2015, Karimov stated that the construction of the hydropower plant would lead to a shortage of irrigation water in the republic, that canals would dry up, and this would impact the harvest of vegetables and fruits, which account for 10% of the republic's total exports. He also warned that this could lead to military conflict in the region. Supporting Karimov's hypothesis was the fact that even with the incomplete hydropower plant, there was already a water shortage this summer. The Kyrgyz side reduced the water supply to the Namangan region of Uzbekistan by 20 times recently, explaining this by drought in their territory. Therefore, Karimov repeatedly stated that "water and energy problems in Central Asia could worsen to such an extent in the future that they would cause not only serious confrontations but even wars." He insisted that the UN and other international organizations should intervene and "conduct a comprehensive international examination before starting to build or signing documents with any major states regarding the construction of hydropower plants." By "major state," one should understand Russia, and by violator, who did not consult with neighbors – Kyrgyzstan. The expert community largely held the opinion that all these loud statements were nothing more than a way to score political points and seek consensus on electricity prices, while the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Russian Federation in Kyrgyzstan, Andrey Krutko, called on the heads of state to sit down at the negotiating table.
Finally, today the fate of the project was announced. According to Atambayev, Kyrgyzstan has decided to terminate the agreement with Russia and seek another investor. Whether it will be China, the USA, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey, which has already expressed a desire to participate in the project, remains unclear.
- We discussed this issue extensively with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Given the current economic situation in Russia, we see that the partner cannot fulfill the agreement. Therefore, we proposed to Russia to withdraw from the agreement and help us find another investor for the project. When the document was signed, as you know, the situation was different. We have no right to stop these projects. I spoke with Putin and found complete understanding on his part. We must make radical decisions based on reality. Unfortunately, Russia cannot fulfill its obligations. Moreover, it will have one less obligation, - said the president.
It is worth noting that the situation was predictable. Several years ago, political scientist Alexander Knyazev had already mentioned the possibility of terminating the contract.
