OCT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Yerevan, leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) agreed to set up a new crisis response centre. The thinking behind the centre is to improve the exchange of information between CSTO members on terrorism. The CSTO includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)
OCT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Tajik court sentenced Buzurgmehr Yorov and Nuriddin Makhamov, two lawyers of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), to 23 and 21 years in prison for fraud and inciting ethnic hatred. Last year, the IRPT was accused of plotting a coup. Human rights lobby groups said the charges against Yorov and Makhamov were trumped up.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)
OCT. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik government proposed new amendments to the law on national security forces that will allow them to break into homes without a warrant. The amendments, said to be aimed at strengthening security in the country, need approval from parliament before entering into force. Critics have said that these checks will be used against the opposition.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)
SEPT. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s state insurance company wants to see President Emomali Rakhmon’s head on a 1,000 somoni ($127) bill. Globally, the only living heads of state with their faces on banknotes are royals, notably Queen Elizabeth II, and a few presidents-for-life in Africa and Asia. The proposal could now spark a debate around Mr Rakhmon and his growing personality cult.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistani media hinted that it was anticipating potential supply-side problems with CASA-1000 electricity project by saying that it had invited Russia to make up any short- fall over winter when Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s hydropower stations are less productive. The World Bank-backed $1.2b project aims to send electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan by 2019. This year, shortages in Kyrgyzstan have cast doubts over the country’s export capacity and Pakistan has explored other suppliers, including Turkmenistan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz police released the wife of Sobir Valiev, a Tajik opposition figure, 22 hours after her arrest. Kyrgyzstan’s Security Service said the woman, Zhannat Khamzayeva, was questioned regarding the alleged illegal activities of her husband. Mr Valiyev, a member of the opposition movement Group-24 who currently lives in Poland, is accused of illegal border crossing and forging documents. The Security Service ordered Ms Khamzayeva to remain in the country.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
SEPT. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-listed China Nonferrous Gold said it is close to reaching its goal of increasing production capacity at its Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan to 2,000 tonnes/day. The company produced its first gold in Tajikistan in January. It has held an exploration licence since 2004. The Pakrut gold mine lies 120km north-east of Dushanbe.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
SEPT. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Abdulaziz Kamilov, Uzbekistan’s foreign minister, paid an official visit to Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon in Dushanbe in an effort to boost cooperation. Mr Kamilov and Mr Rakhmon held talks on joint efforts to combat terrorism and on water and energy issues that still divide the two countries. Uzbekistan has maintained strong opposition against Tajikistan’s decision to build a major dam and hydropower plant because it would affect downstream water supply.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)
SEPT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Security Services of South Ossetia, the breakaway region of Georgia, arrested a Tajik man, Umarjon Ismonov, for allegedly attempting to recruit Central Asian migrant workers into the ranks of the IS extremist organisation, Russian media reported. In recent years, the Caucasian mountain range has become a fertile recruiting ground for extremist Islamic organisations.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)
SEPT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – TALCO, Tajikistan’s aluminium smelter and the country’s biggest industrial asset, should cut output to survive because aluminium prices have fallen below production costs, the company auditors said.
Tajikistan’s government has repeatedly intervened to give TALCO incentives and preferential loans but has not been able to prevent thousands of job losses.
Now production cuts are likely.
“This year, a significant decrease in the level of world prices for aluminium has impacted TALCO’s earnings. The company auditors have suggested that the management orders a cut in production in order to keep financial losses at a minimum,” TALCO said in a statement.
TALCO produced over 73,000 tonnes of aluminium in the first half of 2016, a 13.5% increase compared to the same period last year. It exports to clients in Turkey, Taiwan, Iran, British Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Low commodity prices, though, meant it sold aluminium at a price range of $1,400-$1,600/tonne. Production costs have reached $2,000/tonne. In April, it laid off around 600 workers to cut costs.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)