Tajikistan doubles coal production in H1
By Aynur Jafarova
Tajikistan has doubled its coal production in the first half of 2014 compared to the same period last year.
It was announced by Tajikistan's Industry and New Technologies Ministry, local media reported.
The Ministry said the volume of coal production amounted to 300,000 tons in the reported period. The figure is 130,000 tons more compared to the first half of 2013.
Recently, the Tajik miners have increased their daily coal production from 3,500 tons to 4,500 tons.
The Tajik president has instructed the relevant bodies to double the coal production this year in a timely manner by providing the socio-economic sectors with this type of fuel.
Last year the coal production in Tajikistan increased by 25 percent compared to 2012, reaching 518,000 tons.
Experts believe the coal production in the country has increased due to the transition of large industry facilities from natural gas to coal.
Coal is a much-needed commodity in Tajikistan that faces chronic shortages of natural gas and electricity, mostly supplied from neighboring Uzbekistan.
Tajikistan is a great consumer of coal as well. The total volume of coal in the country, which has few fossil fuel resources, is estimated at about 4.5 billion tons.
The population of rural areas use coal due to lack of electricity in fall and winter and also because of the limits put on electricity consumption.
162 enterprises are currently operating in the field of coal production in Tajikistan.