JAN. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed and Tajikistan-focused China Nonferrous Gold ltd said it produced its first gold from the Pakrut mine. Tajikistan had granted the company a licence to explore the Pakrut mine in 2004.
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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
DEC. 29 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin)– Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Muhiddin Kabiri, the exiled head of Tajikistan’s now-banned main opposition party, in Tehran, immediately drawing threats from Tajik officials that the meeting would damage bilateral relations.
The major show of support from Iran for Mr Kabiri, who is wanted by police in Tajikistan to face various terrorism charges, and his Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) is a poke in the eye for Dushanbe, officially a secular country.
Tajikistan and Iran have traditionally close relations, sharing many similar cultural, religious and ethnic identifiers. Iran has also been a major sponsor of essential hydropower infrastructure in Tajikistan.
The Tajik foreign ministry sent a note to the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe which said: “Such an attitude to the enemies of the state and the people of Tajikistan can have a negative impact on the friendly relations between Tajikistan and Iran.”
In September, Tajikistan banned the IRPT, once Tajikistan’s main opposition party, and accused its members of supporting radical Islam and terrorism.
Mr Kabiri, who fled into exile, and his supporters have accused the Tajik government of crushing dissent.
In Dushanbe, an analyst who preferred to remain anonymous told The Conway Bulletin that Mr Kabiri was taking a gamble by appearing in Tehran.
“For Kabiri and the IRPT, after having no support at all from the West, Iran was the last chance to stay in the political arena,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
DEC. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament ratified a $145m investment deal to boost cement production in the country. Under the agreement, a Tajik-Chinese joint venture will build three new facilities, including a cement plant with a capacity of 1.2m tonnes in the Yovon district, 40km south of Dushanbe. Three unnamed Chinese businessmen will own 75% of the joint venture and the Tajik government will retain the remaining 25%.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan and China completed a currency swap deal which they had arranged earlier in the year. Under the deal, China will give Tajikistan 3b yuan (around $470m) in exchange for the equivalent in Tajik somoni. The two sides said the deal would facilitate bilateral trade but it is also a way for China to give Tajikistan some hard currency.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances from Russia to Tajikistan were 73.5% lower in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2014, data from the Russian Central Bank showed. The data shows just how heavily a recession in Russia is impacting people in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police have detained the family of Muhiddin Kabiri, the fugitive leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), media reported. The IRPT had been Tajikistan’s main opposition group until it was outlawed. Most of its leaders have been arrested. Mr Kabiri, though, is on the run.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) cut funding for a railway project that would have linked Tajikistan and Turkmenistan via Afghanistan because of a deterio- ration in security.
The decision will be a blow to various infrastructure projects in Central Asia that involve Afghanistan, including the high profile TAPI gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to India and the CASA-1000 power transmission route running from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Pakistan.
“Although Turkmenistan has completed construction of its section of the railway, we would not like to construct a railway where security is not guaranteed. It’s very risky,” ADB’s country director C.C.Yu told media.
This year, the Taliban has increased its attacks in northern Afghanistan, at one point capturing the town of Kunduz near Tajikistan. Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have all warned that security is worsening although, previously, infrastructure projects have not been postponed or delayed.
The railway route in question was supposed to run over 440km and bypass Uzbekistan, often considered a troublesome neighbour by Tajikistan in particular and Turkmenistan to a lesser extent.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale struck east Tajikistan shaking the capital Dushanbe more than 300km away, the US Geological Survey said. A Bulletin correspondent said that there had been no casualties and no major damage to buildings in Dushanbe.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in south-west Tajikistan has sentenced seven people, including three under the age of 18, to jail for raising a flag in support of the radical IS group, RFE/RL reported. Tajikistan is concerned about IS recruitment. The seven people received jail sentences of 7 to 27 years.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Somon Air, a private airline company in Tajikistan, signed a contract with British Commsoft to use its OASES IT system for engineering and maintenance. Somon Air operates flights connecting Tajikistan with Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Turkey, China and the UAE.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
