AKIPRESS.COM - Dushanbe mayor Makhmadsaid Ubaidulloyev has given the go-ahead to a meeting of experts from Poyry Energy Ltd (Switzerland) with the public of the Tajik capital.

An official source at the Dushanbe mayor’s office says the results of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and the Techno-Economic Assessment Study (TEAS) for the Rogun Hydropower Project (HPP) will be announced at the meeting on August 16.

The concluding products of the Assessment Studies, which were prepared by an international consultant consortium led by Coyne & Bellier for the TEAS and by Poyry Energy Ltd. for the ESIA, cover the following topics: dam safety; economic and financial analyses; implementation and risks; environmental and social impacts; impact on riparian countries; analysis of alternatives; and recommendations.

According to the draft consultants’ reports and the independent Panels of Experts, it is feasible to build and operate a dam at the Rogun site within modern international norms but contingent on incorporating the experts’ recommendations on modifying the original design, implementing the mitigation measures, and establishing monitoring systems throughout the life of any future project.

Uzbekistan, meanwhile, strongly opposes the construction of the Rogun dam. During his visit to Karakalpakstan, Uzbek President Islam Karimov noted on 8 October 2010 that if Tajikistan goes on to complete Rogun as planned, it would leave Uzbekistan facing water shortages for eight years until Rogun dam filled with water. Tashkent has asked Russia and the United Nations to pressure Dushanbe to stop the Rogun hydropower project.