JULY 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Keen to reduce its energy import bill, Tajikistan has begun to build its first oil refinery, media reported. Tajikistan imports 90% of its oil from Russia which imposed an export duty tax earlier this year. The new refinery, 30km outside Dushanbe, is set to open in the second half of 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 14 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) -The authorities in Tajikistan released Urunboy Usmonov, a local BBC reporter, on bail. Police arrested Mr Usmonov last month and charged him with being a member of a banned radical Islamic group. The BBC has protested his innocence. The authorities in Tajikistan have cracked down on the media this year as they fight militant Islamists.
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(News report from Issue No. 49, published on July 20 2011)
JULY 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Central Asian countries need to improve cooperation along the Amu Darya, the region’s longest river, to avoid future conflicts over water supply, the United Nations Environmental Programme said in a new report. Overuse and climate change have diminished the river which mainly irrigates Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 48, published on July 12 2011)
JUNE 22 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan will award a licence to develop the important Konimansuri Kalon silver deposit by the end of the year, Reuters quoted the first deputy head of the Tajik geology agency as saying. Developing the deposit will give Tajikistan’s economy a boost.
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(News report from Issue No. 46, published on June 28 2011)
JUNE 21 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – It is difficult to overstate the potential importance of the Konimansuri Kalon silver deposit in Tajikistan.
The IFC, part of the World Bank, which is advising the government on how best to exploit the deposit, reckons that mining the silver could earn Tajikistan $2b. In 2010 according to the CIA World Factbook, Tajikistan’s total national income was just under $6b.
Reuters reported that the Chinese companies considering bidding for the contract have pulled out and that only Kazzinc, which is owned by Switzerland-based Glencore, and BHP Billiton remain in the race to partner the government.
Tajikistan is poor and mountainous. Inflation is rife and living standards are dropping.
Alongside battling a growing insurgency in the mountains, the government is pursuing a heavy-handed policy against practising Muslims which analysts say is likely to back fire and push people towards militant Islamists.
Corruption is rife in Tajikistan and the economy is reliant on a Soviet-era copper smelter with opaque finances and cash from remittances. Estimates say that money from people working abroad accounts for 50% of the Tajik economy. The illegal drug trade from neighbouring Afghanistan is also an important source of income.
The Konimansuri Kalon silver deposit, located around 50km from Tajikistan’s second city of Khujand in the northwest of the country, isn’t going to change the situation overnight but it does offer some hope.
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(News report from Issue No. 46, published on June 28 2011)
JUNE 23 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Central Asia is facing a drought that will not only hit cotton and food production but also heighten tension across the region, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said. UNDP said that Water levels are a third lower than average in important reservoirs in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 46, published on June 28 2011)
JUNE 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Tajikistan arrested a local BBC reporter, Urinboy Usmonov, and accused him of belonging to the banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. Tajikistan has been fighting a growing Islamist insurgency in the past 12 months and has cracked down on media. The BBC called for his immediate release.
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(News report from Issue No. 45, published on June 21 2011)
JUNE 17 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps sensitive to descriptions of Tajikistan as a failed state, a deputy in the Tajik parliament asked for a video game depicting fictional Chinese and US anti-terrorist operations in the country to be banned, media reported. The video game had been released earlier this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 45, published on June 21 2011)
JUNE 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan hosted the 10th annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Central Asian security organisation lead by Russia and China. Heads of states and senior officials from India, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan joined leaders from the SCO member states for the meeting.
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(News report from Issue No. 45, published on June 21 2011)
JUNE 10 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan could join Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in a Customs Union, local media quoted the country’s customs chief, Gurez Zaripov, as saying. The Customs Union, which analysts have said extends Moscow’s influence, is due to come into effect on July 1. The Kyrgyz PM has also said Kyrgyzstan may join the Customs Union.
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(News report from Issue No. 44, published on June 14 2011)
