The project to build the Kambarata-1 and Kambarata-2 hydroelectric cascades in the Central Asian state, to be operated by Russian electricity monopoly Unified Energy System (UES), is designed to produce electricity for domestic needs and exports to Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern China.
"This will be a top investment project worth of billions of dollars, and will be of the utmost significance from the point of view of Kyrgyzstan's influence in the region," Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Federal Nuclear Power Agency, told a Russian-Kyrgyz intergovernmental commission.
Kiriyenko said UES will allocate considerable funds to preparing a feasibility study for the project before attracting other investors.
He said guidelines for bilateral cooperation, including in electricity supplies from Kyrgyzstan to Russia, will be set out in a strategic partnership deal, currently being prepared.
The Central Asian country's prime minister, Felix Kulov, said talks are underway with Russian regions on possible energy deliveries.
"The Altai Territory [southwest Siberia] has proposed buying Kyrgyz electricity at 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour in 2007," Kulov said.
