Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Tajikistan tightens security at mosques

MARCH 28 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tajik authorities ordered mosques in Dushanbe to improve security by installing CCTV and metal detectors, a move that sceptics said was actually aimed at clamping down on pious Muslims who officials view with increasing unease.

Mahmadsaid Ubaydulloev, Dushanbe city mayor, said the extra surveillance was needed to ensure public safety in the city and that mosques would have to buy the kit with cash from their own budgets.

This is a continuation of a policy of tightening security around mosques in Tajikistan.

A month ago, Tajik authorities ordered mosques to police their prayers for extremists. The government is increasingly worried about radicals infiltrating mosques and either recruiting young men to join the extremist IS group in Syria or inciting revolution. Last year, the government banned the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and arrested its leaders and activists in what free speech advocates have described as clamp down on human rights.

And pious Muslims in Tajikistan have complained of increased harassment too, including being forced to shave long beards. They told The Conway Bulletin’s Dushanbe correspondent that the latest move to install extra security is merely aimed at making life even more difficult.

Umedjon, a 36-years old salesman, said that he does not feel free to pray. “Instead of focusing on praying, I have to think about how I am praying in order not to get in trouble with the authorities. If they install metal detectors and cameras, the mosque will become a constrained place for praying,” he said as he left one of central Dushanbe’s mosques.

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(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Presidential Office empties the most famous store in Tajikistan

MARCH 28 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — The tops floors of the most prominent department store in Tajkiistan’s capital, the Soviet-era TSUM, are eerily quiet.

Most of the traders who sold mobile phones, clothes and Tajik national mementos to foreign tourists have quit their leases. They said the Presidential Administration took over the company that owned the store earlier this year and has forced up rent.

Aziz, a 26-year-old man who sold Tajik-themed gifts, told The Conway Bulletin’s Dushanbe correspondent that rent used to be around $7 per square metre.

“Now they want us to pay more than $20 per square meter,” Aziz said, the anger clearly audible in his voice.

He shook his head, more to himself than to anybody else, and continued to pack up his products into boxes scattered across the floor. Like most of the other small traders he was quitting TSUM.

“I am moving out because I cannot pay the rent. Trade is not good in TSUM, not so many people come nowadays,” he said.

Traders said that a month ago, President Emomali Rakhmon’s Executive Office, which is headed by his daughter Ozoda Rakhmon, took control of the company that ran TSUM. The Investment and State Property Control Committee said that TSUM was privatised illegally in the 1990s. Officially, TSUM has now been re-nationalised although critics of Mr Rakhmon have said that it is now effectively under the control of his family.

Built in 1960’s, TSUM is one of the few remaining Soviet-built buildings in Dushanbe and had been one of the most popular trading centres. But Tajikistan is hurting from a sharp economic downturn. The Bulletin’s correspondent said that while bigger shops selling various Western brands were still operating on the ground floor of TSUM, the first and second floors were almost entirely empty.

Mr Rakhmon’s Presidential Administration has not commented on allegations that it has inflated rent at TSUM but the accusations will bolster critics who accuse the president of corruption.

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(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Tajik Air buys numbers of planes from Airbus

MARCH 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to boost the status of state- owned Tajik Air, Tajikistan’s deputy PM Azim Ibrohim said that the government had bought a number of planes from Europe’s Airbus. State-owned Tajik Air and privately-owned Somon Air are the only two airlines in the country and both use Boeing-made aircrafts. Countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus have been using airlines to promote their national brands.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Editorial: Banking in Tajikistan

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – There are two kinds of banking crises. One is when the financial sector struggles to stay healthy, as toxic assets mar the books of commercial banks, as seen most notably in Kazakhstan in 2011-2013.

The other one is a crisis of trust, when citizens start doubting the ability of their banks to provide cash and protect their savings.

This second type of crisis is now happening in Tajikistan. Our correspondent listened to angry voices from the long queues forming outside Tojiksodirotbank, Tajikistan’s third-largest lender.

A regional economic downturn has hit Tajikistan hard, especially because of the sharp drop in the value of worker remittances from Russia.

The government has put the blame on external and private factors. Notably, the Central Bank blamed exchange offices for the imbalance in the exchange rates.

Now responsibility seems to be shifting to commercial lenders, which are a channel for remittances and an increasingly popular method for paying wages among businesses.

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Editorial from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Tajik banking system wobbles as rumours grow of a collapse

MARCH 17 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — People in Tajikistan appear to be losing faith in their banking system, triggering a run on one of the country’s biggest banks.

This week crowds of around 100 people have been gathering at the head office of Tojiksodirotbank in Dushanbe, the only place the bank’s customers can withdraw money.

Nuriniso, a 30-year-old street-cleaner, was queuing to withdraw her salary. “Yesterday, I was at the bank until 9pm to get my money. They gave me 700 somoni (around $90) and told me to come another day for some more,” she told a Conway Bulletin correspondent.

An older woman standing next to Nuriniso explained.

“Don’t you understand that the bank is bankrupt?” she said of rumours fuelling what could, effectively be a run on the bank. “The bank will close from the first of April and money can only be withdrawn from other ATMs at 25% (commission).”

This is important for the entire Central Asia and South Caucasus region which has been hit by a worsening economic crisis. If withdrawals from Tojiksodirotbank did accelerate and it did become a run on the bank, it would be the first instance of an unplanned banking failure linked to the current economic downturn.

Tojiksodirotbank, which holds the majority of accounts for the country’s lower and middle classes such as doctors, teachers and government officials, has not commented on the queues forming outside their branches. Instead it said via its website that a technical problem was slowing down transactions.

And Tojiddin Pirzoda, the bank’s chairman has denied rumours of its impending bankruptcy. “Tojiksodirotbank holds a leading and a strong position in the banking system,” Tajik state news agency Khovar quoted him as saying in February.

But Nuriniso, the street cleaner who earns 640 somoni a month (around $80), said she had now lost confidence in Tajik banks.

“I will never keep my money in banks. My workplace has created this headache (by paying my salary into Tojiksodirotbank) ,” she said.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Carrefour extends its presence in Georgia

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD said it extended a $39.5m credit line to Majid Al Futtaim, the regional franchisee of French retailer Carrefour, to extend its presence in Georgia. Carrefour already has three stores in Georgia and said it wants to open new ones. Carrefour is also present in Armenia, where it owns one store, Tajikistan and also in Kazakhstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Tajikistan and Russia flex muscles

MARCH 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan and Russia held a massive military exercise, media reported, a show of force towards an increasingly aggressive Taliban. According to reports, the military exercise was the biggest ever held in Tajikistan. Russia and its allies have become increasingly wary of the Taliban spreading north.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Tajik forces clash on southern border

MARCH 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A firefight between Tajik forces and militants on its southern border with Afghanistan killed at least two Tajik soldiers, media reported by quoting government officials. This was one of the most serious border clashes for some months and will worry governments in Central Asia. It is unclear if the militants were linked to the Taliban or if they were local smugglers.

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(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

No free speech in Tajikistan – says UN Rapporteur

MARCH 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – After completing a mission to Tajikistan, David Kaye, a UN Special Rapporteur, said that freedom of expression in the country was dire. Mr Kaye said that the authorities were using concerns over security as an excuse to crackdown on the media and political parties they didn’t like. “The security situation has been used as a pretext, as an excuse, to crack down on freedom of expression,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Norway asks Tajikistan about TALCO’s ownership

MARCH 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norway’s parliament challenged the Tajik government to reveal exactly who was the real beneficiary behind the TALCO aluminium smelter company. Newspaper reports have focused on potential corruption at the plant and in deals that included Norway’s part-state owned Norsk Hydro.

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(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)