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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
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)
JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a visit to London, Tajik foreign minister Sirodjidin Aslov met with his British counterpart William Hague. Tajikistan and Britain have been cultivating close relations but the arrest on spying charges of a Tajik researcher linked to Exeter University in June has strained ties.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Highlighting Kazakhstan’s regional economic pull, the authorities have decided to set up a centre to deal with the problems of Tajik migrant workers, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. After Russia, Kazakhstan is the most popular destination for Tajik migrant workers.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JUNE 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan will increase its electricity prices in July by 15%, media reported. This is the first electricity price increase for two years and may trigger frustration. One media outlet quoted a Tajik official saying prices had to rise because of the poor financial position of the state energy producer.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – President Emomali Rakhmon and key figures in his regime have criticised an “artificial” spike in the price of meat during the holy month of Ramadan.
As Ramadan began, Tajik media reported a jump in the price of a kilo of meat from $6-7 to $8-9. Other products saw smaller increases. Last Ramadan saw similar jumps, suggesting collusion in the country’s urban markets, where costs are highest.
Mr Rakhmon’s attack on the meat cartels should be understood less as a defence of religion — an embarrassing video of him dancing drunk at his son’s wedding became an internet sensation when it was leaked in May 2013 — and more as sensitivity over price changes that could precipitate instability. GDP is expected to grow by 7% this year, but inflation, at 7.7% for the first half of this year, is more than keeping up.
“Prices for petrol are lower than they have been in recent years, there is enough feed for the animals and the price of meat should not be rising,” said Mr Rakhmon.
The Mayor of Dushanbe, Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev, backed Mr Rakhmon’s stance emphasising the need to punish “shameless” butchers working out of the capital’s main bazaars.
Food assumes a special importance during the month of Ramadan when daytime fasting gives way to night time gorging. The Day of Eid holiday after the fasting period is associated with elaborate feasts.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)