Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Rakhmon’s hometown bias irritates Tajiks

DANGHARA/Tajikistan JULY 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — To passersby this town of 25,000 people south east of Dushanbe, is indistinguishable from any other poor Tajik settlement.

On one side of the drag running through its centre there is a crowded but limited bazaar, hawking cheap products from China. On the other, the standard array of grocery stores with little to sell and taxi drivers waiting for non-existent customers.

But Danghara is an important part of impoverished Tajikistan’s political vocabulary. The town’s most famous son, Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon, stuffs his government with people from Danghara and its eponymous district.

Making up only 1% of the total population of Tajikistan, Dangharans nevertheless head the ministries of education, health and internal affairs. The first Deputy Prime Minister is also Danghara-born.

“Half of Danghara has already moved to Dushanbe,” said Daler Khalidoev, a courier who lives in the capital but comes from Khujand. “They still smell of the village.”

Since Soviet times, regional divisions have plagued Tajikistan. Back then most of the local elite were plucked from Leninabad region (now Khojand) in the north, now it seems that Dangharans are in favour.

At Mr Rakhmon’s encouragement international organizations have built and equipped Danghara general hospital, one of the best in the country, at a cost of roughly $20m. The newly created Danghara Free Economic Zone 10km outside the city, will host strategic investments such as an Iranian detergent factory worth $1.4b and a Chinese oil refinery that will refine over 1m tonnes of crude per year.

“(It’s) jobs for his people,” said Khalidoev, the courier from Khojand.

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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Tajiks release academic

JULY 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan released on bail Tajik academic Alexander Sodiqov who officials arrested and charged with spying when working for British and Canadian universities in the south of the country. Mr Sodiqov’s arrest triggered international condemnation. As a condition of his bail, Mr Sodiqov has to remain in Dushanbe.

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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Tajik aluminium company halves production

JULY 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – TALCO, Tajikistan’s aluminium smelter and its most important industrial asset, cut production by nearly 50% in the first half of the year to 61,100 tonnes because of a fall in demand, media reported quoting an official. TALCO is the mainstay of Tajikistan’s economy.

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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan de-escalate tension

JULY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to jointly investigate a shoot-out along its shared borders earlier this month that killed one person, media reported. The announcement was an important step in deescalating tension along the border. There have been several clashes on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border this year.

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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Tajikistan to modernise power plant

JULY 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to loan Tajikistan $50m to modernise a vital power station, media reported. The Qairokkum plant, built in 1958, is the only power generating plant in the north of the country and supplies electricity to 500,000 homes.

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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Tajik state-firms’ debt deepens

JULY 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s national energy company Barqi Tojik has blamed another massive state-run concern, the aluminium smelter TALCO, for part of its growing $300m debt.

Over a third of Barqi Tojik’s debts are owed to a pair of hydroelectric power facilities, which TALCO officially co-owns with Russia and Iran. Other debts are unpaid taxes to the state, salary arrears, and unpaid loans.

In an interview with Asia-Plus, a Barqi Tojik official said TALCO owed the company $50 million in unpaid energy bills. TALCO, which as reported is itself suffering from a major slump in demand for its products, has denied the allegations.

Barqi Tojik and TALCO are two of Tajikistan’s most significant state-owned companies and both appear to be in trouble.

Barqi Tojik’s debts have grown as public sector clients like TALCO (which alone consumes at least a sixth of national energy production) and other major industrial facilities renege on payments. TALCO reportedly haemorrhaged $40m last year and laid off a fifth of its workforce. The company has suffered from low prices for aluminium and alleged corruption within the political elite. Tajikistan’s economy looks increasing fragile.

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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)

Detained Tajik researcher

JULY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pressure has been growing on Tajikistan to release Alexander Sodiqov, the Tajik researcher linked to the Universities of Toronto and Exeter who was arrested and charged with spying last month. Mr Sodiqov was detained in the restive region of Gorno-Badakhshan, southeast Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)

Rouhani to visit Tajikistan

JULY 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will visit Dushanbe on Sept. 12/13 during a meeting of the shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the China and Russia led Central Asia military alliance. Tajikistan has close cultural and economic ties with Iran.

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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)

Chinese firm boosts Tajik cement output

JULY 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An official at the Tajik ministry for industry told the Asia Plus news agency that the country was a step closer to cement self-sufficiency thanks largely to the work of Huaksin Gayur Cement, a factory completed last year that can produce 1m tonnes of cement annually.

That figure dwarfs the productive capacity of national champion Tajik Cement, which produces four or five times less. Tajikistan consumes 1.5m tonnes of cement per year and imports from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Russia.

The 75% Chinese-owned enterprise in the capital Dushanbe is one of several key Chinese investments to have popped up in Tajikistan over the last year. In addition to building heating plants for Dushanbe and Tajikistan’s second city, Khujand, China has begun construction of an oil refinery in Khatlon province that will almost meet Tajikistan’s domestic fuel needs.

Factory-by-factory, Beijing is also easing the employment crisis in the world’s most remittance-dependent country. Huaksin Gayur Cement has provided over 400 local jobs. The Khatlon refinery will provide a similar number.

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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)

China’s investment surge in impoverished Tajikistan is beginning to show results.

Tajikistan lifts ban on Turkish serial

JULY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajiks will be able to watch their favourite Turkish serial Defenders again after the government lifted a ban. The government had said the Defenders showed scenes related to extremism. Kazakhstan is also considering a ban. More likely the problem is fear of Turkish cultural and political influence.

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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)