Anatoly Chubais, UES’ head, told a press conference that the work would probably be funded by a combination of bank credits and UES’ own resources.

Chubais signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the plants with Kyrgyz president Nikolai Tanayev, with a full agreement to be signed by the end of November.

UES and the Kyrgyz government will now draft a co-operation agreement for the project. Work on the two plants started in 1990, but Kyrgyzstan has been unable to finish them because of a shortage of funding.