Uzbekistan continues to export electricity to Afghanistan

Uzbekistan has continued supplying electricity to Afghanistan without disruptions, the Uzbek Energy Ministry’s press service said Tuesday.

This comes after reports emerged that Afghanistan could face winter outages due to unpaid debt to electricity exporting countries, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (officials) asked power-exporting countries not to cut electricity and pledged to pay debts.

One official told Ariana News on Tuesday that Afghanistan owes its neighbors $62 million. However the country’s power supply company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) is owed over $500 million dollars by Afghan consumers.

On Wednesday, Uzbekistan said it was fulfilling all its obligations to export electricity to Afghanistan and did not mention the issue of debt.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said last month that his country was ready for a dialogue with the IEA in Afghanistan and would participate in projects that would strengthen peace in the country.

In September, Uzbekistan also handed 1,300 tons of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, including food, medicine and clothing.