Russia has agreed to gradually write off Tajikistan’s $300mn debt for electricity supplied by the joint Sangtuda-1 Hydropower Plant (HPP), in a move widely seen as a gesture of strategic partnership and regional influence.
The deal, signed in late April by Russia’s Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev and Tajikistan’s Minister of Energy Daler Juma, outlines a phased cancellation of the debt by 2034. The agreement was recently approved by the lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament.
The Sangtuda HPP-1, a 670 MW facility, supplies approximately 12% of Tajikistan’s electricity needs. The only buyer of the plant’s output is the state-run utility Barqi Tojik. With Russia as a majority investor in the joint venture, the move to forgive the debt is effectively a subsidy to Tajikistan’s energy system and its population.
The project’s total equity capital stands at $847mn. As part of the revised agreement, the investment payback period has been extended from 20 to 35 years, pushing returns back to 2048. The updated terms also address tariffs for the sale of electricity, although details remain undisclosed.
Tajikistan joins a growing list of countries that have benefited from Russian debt relief. In recent years, Moscow has canceled or restructured large portions of loans to countries across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Africa, and Latin America.
Earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin approved a delay in Belarus’s loan repayments worth $800mn, extending the payment schedule from 7 to 12 years, citing the need to ease the country’s budget pressure. In 2023, Russia postponed payments on a €1.2bn loan to Cuba and canceled $32bn of its debt, much of it from Soviet-era projects.
Moscow also canceled Guinea-Bissau’s $26.7mn debt and allowed restructuring of $940,000, while Somalia was granted deferral on $691mn. Across Africa, Russia has forgiven around $20bn in old debts—primarily tied to Soviet-era military and infrastructure deals—with major cancellations for Angola ($3.5bn), Ethiopia ($5bn), Algeria ($5.7bn), and Libya ($4.5bn).
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