Tajik Minister Says Uzbekistan Violating Energy Agreement

DUSHANBE -- Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrohkhon Zarifi has said that Uzbekistan has not fulfilled its obligations according to bilateral agreements on energy and water signed at a Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Bishkek last year, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Zarifi said Uzbekistan began interrupting Turkmen electricity deliveries to Tajikistan in January, forcing the country to use water from the Nurek and Qairoqum reservoirs to produce electricity.

The reservoirs are used by Uzbek and Turkmen farmers downstream, and Zarifi said both countries would face serious water shortages if the situation does not change by summer.