BRUSSELS/DUSHANBE, July 6 (Reuters) – The European Union plans to become the top investor in the world’s tallest dam in Tajikistan, EU officials told Reuters, in a move aimed at helping Central Asia cut its reliance on Russian energy and part of EU’s answer to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Tajikistan began in 2016 the construction of the giant hydropower Rogun plant, which could deliver full energy independence to the landlocked former Soviet Union nation.