MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - Russia may invest some $500 million in the project to take electrical power from central Asia to South Asia, Russian presidential envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said.
"The abbreviation for this project is CASA 1000 - Central Asia South Asia, and 1,000 stands for 1,000 megawatt. We are talking about Tajik hydroelectric power plants producing excessive power, which can be successfully exported to Afghanistan and further to Pakistan," Kabulov said in an interview with Interfax.
"It's a big international and regional project. We have expressed readiness to take part in it on condition that the Russian company that will be tasked with doing it will be the project's operator and will lead it from beginning to end. It's very important. We are waiting," he said.
The Russian diplomat said the issue was addressed during the recent visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Moscow.
"The Afghan president was told that the partners are really interested in such a project. Russia, for example, may invest some $500 million in CASA. It's a lot because this project has no funding: these three countries have big financial problems and it is difficult for them to mobilize such resources. For Russia, it's not charity. If we adopt the right approach to this project, our investment will bring us profit," Kabulov said.