Tajikistan energy co to up electricity tariffs 22%
DUSHANBE. March 11 (Interfax) - Barki Tojik, the state energy company of Tajikistan, will raise electricity tariffs 22% for the population on April 1 2012 and 25% for consumer categories, the company said in a press release.
The tariff will go up from 0.213 somoni to 0.2663 somoni per kilowatt hour of electricity for industrial companies and entrepreneurs (4.7593 somoni/$1 on March 7).
State aluminum company Talco, which previously paid an easy tariff for its electricity (0.0822 somoni per kilowatt hour) will pay the same as other commercial organizations.
The tariff for the population will be 0.11 somoni per kilowatt hour, up from 0.09 somoni.
"The tariffs are increasing due to demands from the World Bank and other donors to increase the profit margin in the electricity sector," the release says.
Electricity tariffs were last raised in January 2010.
Talco is a strategically important company for Tajikistan, accounting for 54.6% of the country's exports in 2011 (63.3% in 2010). Aluminum exports in value terms, according to the statistics agency, totaled $686.3 million in 2011, down 9.3% on 2010.
The company has the capacity to produce 517,000 tonnes of primary aluminum annually. Talco produced 277,584 tonnes of primary aluminum in 2011, down 20.4% on 2010.