Tajikistan suffers severe energy shortages in winter, caused by a combination of low hydropower output during winter, when river fl ows are low, and high demand driven by heating needs. Shortages affect some 70 percent of the population, costing about 3 percent of annual GDP. This fi gure excludes human and environmental costs, as well as the serious negative effect on the business investment climate. If no measures are undertaken to address this problem, then current electricity shortages, estimated at about one-quarter of winter demand (2,700 GWh), could increase to more than one-third of...