RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR SAYS RUSSIA TO COMPLETE HYDRO PLANT IN TAJIKISTAN

摘要

DUSHANBE. (Interfax) - Russia will finish building the Rogun hydroelectric dam in Tajikistan and considers that only Russia and Tajikistan are capable of handling this huge project, Ramazan Abdulatipov, Russia's ambassador to Tajikistan, told a January 30 press conference in Dushanbe. "The Rogun project is crucial to our partnership, but it has regrettably become a hostage to technical and technological disputes between specialists and experts," Abdulatipov said. "Endless insinuations and idle speculation about this issue serve no purpose and are damaging to our relations," he said. "We need to come to terms and start implementing the project. This is what the Russian president and government want and a new inter-governmental agreement on the Rogun plant's construction is being drafted," Abdulatipov said, adding that the agreement should be signed as early as the first half of 2007.