Kyrgyz parliamentary committee approves bill to raise Toktogul HPP damage compensation

The Committee on Industrial Policy, Transport, Fuel and Energy Complex, Architecture and Construction of the Jogorku Kenesh of Kyrgyzstan approved in the first reading a bill that would increase annual compensation for damage caused by the construction of the Toktogul Hydropower Plant and reservoir. The committee considered the bill at its session on 19 October.

The bill, initiated by a group of deputies including Bolotbek Borbiev, would raise annual compensation from 70 million to 358 million soms, an additional 288 million soms. Borbiev said the current amount, set in 2016, no longer matches today's economic conditions and the needs of residents. He noted that construction flooded 33,000 hectares of farmland and resettled more than 18,000 people, and that earlier compensation measures were not fully implemented.

The extra funds would go to irrigation facilities, irrigated farming, water supply and social and engineering infrastructure in Toktogul district and Jazykechuu village in Kara-Kul city, Jalal-Abad region. Funding would come from annual deductions by OJSC «Electric Stations», and the bill requires no additional spending from the republican budget.