Rogun Dam - History

History

The Rogun Dam was first proposed in 1959 and a technical scheme was developed by 1965. Construction began in 1976, however the project was frozen after the collapse of the Soviet Union. An agreement on finishing the construction was signed between Tajikistan and Russia in 1994; however, as the agreement was not implemented, it was denounced by Tajikistan parliament. In October 2004, an agreement was signed with RUSAL according to which RUSAL agreed to complete the Rogun facility, to build a new aluminum plant and to rebuild the Tursunzade Aluminum Smelter. In February 2007, a new partnership between Russia and Tajikistan to complete the dam was announced but later was refused by Russia because of disagreements concerning the controlling stake in the project. In May 2008, Takijistan announced that construction on the dam had resumed. By December 2010, one of the river diversion tunnels was renovated and rebuilt and the second expected to commence in June or July 2011.

In 2010, Tajikistan launched an IPO to raise US$1.4 billion to finish construction of the dam. As of April 26, 2010, the Tajik government had raised just US$184 million, enough for two years of construction.