Question: According to the information from the website of the World Bank, the independent technical examination of the project of further construction of the Rogunsky HES in Tajikistan on the Amu-Darya River is coming to an end. What is the position of Russia on this issue?

Answer: Your question is directly related to a wider problem of water use and water apportioning in Central Asia. Some countries of this region are related in the upper reaches of trans-border river like Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya. Other countries are located in their lower reaches. It is clear that the countries of the upper reaches have an objective possibility to affect the amount of water going to the downstream countries. Instead of that, the goals related to the use of water differ. The upper reaches – Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – are dealing with the resolution of pressing tasks of reinforcement of personal energy security using hydro-generation. The lower reaches – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan –reasonably consider water as the basis of their economic and household activity. Water is a vital resource for all these countries.

In conditions, when there is mutual trust and a resource management mechanism set up on the basis of it, these interests, as a rule, lead to a "common denominator". This is the world experience, including that of our country, having dozens of agreements on the joint use of water with neighbouring countries, including multilateral agreements. A "mechanism" means, primarily, the common structure of "water" management, mutual guarantees of supplies of water and energy resources into the countries which are short of water, minimise damage to the use of water, compensation of expenses to the states of the upper reaches for the operation of hydro-technical sites in the interests of the states of lower reaches, etc…

According to an expert assessment, about 150 agreements and treaties were concluded in this regard in Central Asia.

However, the problem is with their implementation. Additional tension of political will to cooperate, especially in resolution of tasks which touch upon the interests of several states–whether in the area of energy generation or build-up of water supplies. – The Rogunsky HES is that case. This is a large hydro-technical site for the region: a 335 m high dam with a water reservoir with a volume of over 10 billion sq.m and the annual energy output of 13.3 billion kW/h. The project was designed in the USSR in 1978, based on cooperation between allied republics. Mutual coordination weakened in this area in the post-Soviet period. Countries of the region mainly maintain an independent water and energy policy.

By virtue of these circumstances in response to the appeals and formal addresses of interested parties in 2010 the World Bank undertook the organisation of the independent assessment of the security of further building and functioning of the Rogunsky HES for all the countries of the region. Since that year, Tajikistan "froze" works on this site.

Currently, the draft independent expert opinion was presented for study by all the interested parties. The World Bank is ready to consider all the possible comments and supplement suggestions, before issuing the final version of the report.

As to the attitude of Russia on this issue, then the World Bank regularly updates us on the course of the works on the expert opinion. We consider this information in our direct contacts with interested states of Central Asia. We hope much will be based on expert conclusions and that countries of the region will attempt to set up a direct dialogue to clarify all the issues of interest. All-in-all, there is no alternative to cooperation. Neither Central Asian republics, nor Russia, nor the international community are interested to have deterioration of interstate relations around these issues. We are convinced that wise leaders of the countries of the region will find a decent solution for this problem. Russia will not only welcome this and is ready to assist as much as it can, when any interested parties turns to it. As it was noted earlier, our successful experience of managing the water economy in the Soviet period, the existence of advances in expertise, the knowledge of the peculiarities of the region and Russia's high reputation in general in the issues of global water partnership can serve this goal.

Russia is interested that all the projects related to the water use in the regions which are close to us, to become "arenas" for region-wide cooperation rather than being a "wedge" between the positions of neighbouring countries. Kambaryatinsky HES-1 is a specific example implemented by Kyrgyzstan with our assistance. At the proposition of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, it is open for participation by other countries of the region. In the first session, which was specifically created for this, the work group included Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Such an initiative should be developed. It is only in this way mutual trust can be built in this "sensitive" area.

26 June 2014