DUSHANBE, May 31, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Tajik Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali is attending a meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) that is going on in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Launched on May 29, the meeting will end on June 3, the source at the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) said.  According to him, the meeting is discussing issues related to construction and maintenance of dams, rational use of water-and-energy resources and environmental protection.   

The International Commission on Large Dams, or ICOLD, is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the sharing of professional information and knowledge of the design, construction, maintenance, and impact of large dams.  It was founded in 1928 and has its central office in Paris, France. It consists of 90 member national committees which have a total membership of about 10,000 individuals.

We will recall that on May 25-27, Gul Sherali attended the 11th annual CIS oil and gas summit in Paris.  Organized under support of the Energy Exchange and Total companies, the meeting brought together representatives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Ukraine to discuss important questions related to large oil-gas deposits, formation of new strategic alliances in region, future oil-gas prospects, long-term transportation of natural oil and gas, diversification of export routes, oil-gas policy of the Caspian countries and other issues.

Tajik minister reportedly delivered a statement on state and prospects of further development of Tajikistan’s oil and gas sector.  

According to the MoEI, Russia''s state-controlled gas company Gazprom, Canadian Tethys Petroleum Ltd, Indian Marvis Ltd, Tajik-Austrian JV Petroleum Sugd and a number of local companies are currently engaged in exploration and development of oil and gas deposits in Tajikistan.