Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Tajikistan wants medics evacuted from Yemen

MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – With a conflict in Yemen between a pro-government alliance that includes various Arab states and Iran-backed rebels worsening, Tajikistan has asked Russia for help repatriating 44 Tajik doctors.

Abdulfaizov Atoyev, a Tajik foreign ministry spokeman, said: “The country is taking all relevant measures to evacuate our citizens.”

Media has reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are preparing for a ground invasion of Yemen.

Doctors and nurses from Tajikistan often travel abroad to work in hospitals and clinics. Remittances from these migrant workers keep the Tajik economy afloat. Russian companies like Zdraveksport and Tekhnoeksport specialise in sending Tajik doctors to Gulf countries. In Yemen, they mostly work for the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

Last October a Tajik nurse was kidnapped in Yemen.

Medical studies represent a climbable social ladder in Tajikistan, as well as providing a route to work abroad. Moving to another country has been a lucrative option for Tajik medics who also want to support their family at home.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

Tajikistn increases Afghan electricty exports

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan increased its export of electricity to Afghanistan by 58% in January and February, Tajik media reported quoting the national statistics agency. Electricity is seen as an important commodity produced by Tajikistan.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Tajikistan starts to build new city

MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s president launched construction of a new city to be built in a desert in the north of the country, media reported. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said the project is designed to generated jobs in the region and that the city would be home to 250,000 people.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

ADB warns Tajikistan of poor economic outlook

MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sent a warning to all Central Asian economies, and in particular to Tajikistan, in its Asian Development Outlook report.

Landlocked and dependent on remittances from migrant workers, Tajikistan is particularly vulnerable to the present economic crisis, the ADB said.

The ADB said Tajikistan is expected to experience a deceleration in its GDP growth. This had averaged 9% between 2010-14 but will fall to 5%.

“The decline in remittances and the traditional exports of aluminum and cotton slowed growth in 2014 and inflation worsened to 6.1%,” it said.

The ADB is also expecting rampant inflation and a further devaluation of the somoni currency by 6.5%.

Remittances, mostly from Tajik workers in Russia, represent roughly half of its GDP. The rouble crisis has affected both the value of those transfers and the capacity of these workers to retain their jobs. The ADB also said that new legislation for migrant workers in Russia will hit Tajikistan’s earnings.

“Remittances will likely contract further in 2015 as new regulations require that migrants to the Russian Federation have Russian language proficiency, as well as medical tests and health insurance that are estimated to cost about $500 per Tajik migrant,” it said.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Tajik court tries 23 men for links to radical Islam

MARCH 12 2015 (The Bulletin) – A court in the northern Tajik town of Khujand is trying 23 men for allegedly belonging to an offshoot of the banned Islamic extremist group the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), media reported. Tajikistan says is has become increasingly concerned about Islamic extremism.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

EBRD opens office in Khujand, Tajikistan

MARCH 12 2015 (The Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has opened up an office in the town of Khujand in north Tajikistan to help support small business, media reported. The EBRD has been extending its Tajik projects.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Pres. Rakhmon gives his son a top job

MARCH 16 2015 (The Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon appointed his 27-year-old son Rustam to head up the Agency for State Financial Control, a government entity in charge of fighting corruption.

This is not the first public post Mr Rakhmon’s eldest son has held. Aside from local administration and nation-wide assignments he heads the country’s Football Federation and for a year was chairman of the Customs Service, a powerful government agency.

Mr Rakhmon is all-powerful having won a parliamentary election earlier this month which eliminated any pretence of a functioning opposition in the country.

Opposition groups have accused him of corruption and blatant nepotism. Other high-ranking officials have been accused of smuggling and drug running.

International observers have become increasingly exasperated with Tajikistan and Mr Rakhmon’s style of rule.

Mr Rakhmon barely acknowledges these accusations but promoting his son to head a senior government agency will hardly improve Tajikistan’s standing in the eyes of foreign investors and governments.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Extremists make gains in north Afghanistan

MARCH 18 2015 (The Bulletin) – The black flag of the extremist group IS has been seen flying in north Afghanistan close to the border with Central Asia, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. This is important because Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have both said they are worried about the Taliban moving north.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Tajikistan’s remittance will fall, says IMF

MARCH 9 2015 (The Bulletin) – In an interview to the Asia-Plus website, the head of the IMF mission in Dushanbe, Aidyn Bibolov, said remittances would drop by 30% in 2015. Such a large drop would be a big hit for Tajikistan’s economy. Remittances make up 50% of Tajikistan’s GDP.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

China to build refinery in Tajikistan

MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – China is preparing to begin work on building the first oil refinery in Tajikistan, media reported. China says that work is about to begin and that it should be operational by the end of the year. The refinery is important because it will reduce Tajikistan’s reliance on Russian oil products.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)