Turkmenistan has increased electric supplies to Afghanistan five-fold to help the country recover, spokesman of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry Serdar Durdyyev said, RIA Novosti reports.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made the decision at a government session today. He signed a decree on construction of the necessary infrastructure in Lebap Province, not far from the border with Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan provides Afghanistan with 325 million KW per hour.
Construction work will start in April this year and end in September 2013. The project is worth $390 million and will be financed by the Turkmen budget. Turkmen power lines will be connected with Adkhoy, a border city of Afghanistan.
The Turkmen Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Turkmenistan will be able to export electricity to Pakistan and Tajikistan.
The price for Turkmen electricity is 2 cents per 1 KW/h, although some estimates say electricity is sold in some regions at 8-13 cents.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has said on various occasions that settling the situation in Afghanistan by force is impossible and that restoring normal life is a more reliable way.
