Hello all; first of all, I am sorry for my hiatus from posts (paucity of posting) for such a long time, but also, I am happy to say that I have found a new home on the web, and I will be once again posting much more frequently!
From now on, I will be posting about Tajikistan at
http://studentdigitalus.org/TajikistanFocus/
I hope you will head over and check us out.
Tajikistan is turning ageism into state policy. Supposedly seeking to “attract young specialists” into government service, the president’s office has instructed officials to lay off elderly government employees –including teachers, doctors at state hospitals, and office functionaries – regardless of their qualifications.
Critics fear the policy will exacerbate the decline of Tajikistan’s intellectual capital. The December 6 order covers those who are old enough to qualify for pensions – 63 for men and 58 for women. Signed by the president’s chief of staff, former Justice Minister Bakhtiyor Khudoyorov, the order is designed to “accelerate the use of modern technologies, especially in the area of e-governance.”
Telecommunications engineer Ilkhom Shomuddinov, 64, is among those affected. He has worked for the state for more than 40 years. “Believe it or not, I don’t remember taking a single sick day. Now, I am told that I am dismissed – they [the managers] follow instructions from above. They don’t know whom to replace me with. Even if they manage to find a young specialist with my qualifications, it is unlikely he would work for that joke of a salary,” Shomuddinov told EurasiaNet.org.
Government wages are paltry: High school teachers earn about $70 per month, doctors between $100 and $200, and secretaries between $100 and $150.
But pensions (a form of social security issued to all, regardless of where a pensioner worked) are more difficult to live on, not only because they are smaller, but because they do not afford one the opportunity to use his or her official position to earn extra income (teachers offer their students private lessons, doctors see patients outside of office hours, and bureaucrats pocket bribes). The order effectively condemns many older workers to poverty. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, there are 590,000 pensioners in Tajikistan; the average monthly pension is 152 somoni (less than $32).
Judging from reactions in local media, the order is deeply unpopular. Some legal experts argue it not only undermines Tajiks’ constitutional rights, but also their human rights according to international law.
Multiple attempts to discuss the order with officials at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the president’s office failed. Officials repeatedly transferred calls to phones that went unanswered.
In response to media criticism, during a January 7 press conference Education Minister Nuriddin Saidov promised “no dismissals will be carried out in the educational system in relation to the age of employees,” the Asia-Plus news agency quoted him as saying. “Many workers who have reached the pension age are qualified and experienced cadre, and we need them [as badly] as we need the air.”
Yet layoffs in the education system, which the minister oversees, have occurred. In early January, Khujand State University dismissed 11 professors who had passed retirement age, the Avesta news agency reported. At Kulyab State University, 23 elderly teachers have reportedly been laid off.
Government sources say they are faced with a dilemma: Ignore authoritarian President Imomali Rahmon’s order and face punishment from the chief executive’s office, or replace aging specialists with unqualified and untested young people who have come up through the dilapidated post-Soviet education system. “On the one hand, we cannot ignore instructions from the president’s office; on the other hand, it would be a crime to fire professors. Who will train young doctors then? Both the education and health sectors have decayed during the years of independence and the civil war,” said a source in the Health Ministry’s Education Department, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a fear of retaliation.
via Tajikistan: Executive Order Disregards Collective Wisdom | EurasiaNet.org.
Tajikistan in 2012: A Year in Review
The past year was an eventful one in Tajikistan on the economic, political and military fronts, with both domestic and regional ramifications. Importantly for Tajikistan’s economy, in May 2012, construction on the controversial hydroelectric Rogun Dam on the Vaksh River—a tributary of the Amu Darya river—was suspended following an order from the World Bank. The suspension reportedly put 5,000 people out of work and will remain in effect until the ecological impact study of the dam is completed. It is expected that the Word Bank’s feasibility study will be published this summer. Rogun is commonly seen to be at the heart of the hostility between Tajikistan and downstream Uzbekistan, which fears that the dam would severely damage Uzbekistani farmers’ ability to irrigate their cotton crops and would accelerate the ecological disaster in the Aral Sea. Uzbekistan has retaliated by periodically not allowing Tajikistan-bound rail and truck cargo to cross its borders and cutting off the flow of natural gas, exacerbating Tajikistan’s perennial energy shortages (Ozodi, January 1).
The year 2012 did however bring some good news for Tajikistan’s hopes of energy security with the news of the discovery of potentially huge hydrocarbon reserves in the Bokhtar region. The find was announced earlier this summer by the Canadian firm Tethys Petroleum and was deemed credible enough to attract investment from both the French energy giant Total and China’s National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC) (Asia Plus, December 24, 2012). While further exploration needs to be done, the potential reserves of oil and gas are estimated to be more than enough to make Tajikistan a net exporter of hydrocarbons. Such a development would free Dushanbe from its energy reliance on Russia and Uzbekistan and no doubt influence its foreign policy calculations.
In December, Tajikistan joined the World Trade Organization, which local economists hope will lower domestic customs tariffs, curb the power of monopolies in certain sectors such as aviation, lower prices on domestic goods, and encourage foreign investment (BBC Tajik, December 11, 2012). On the other hand, some critics have raised concerns over the potential negative short-term effects on the competitiveness of Tajikistan’s two chief exports, aluminum and cotton. The country’s cotton industry is not only an important economic force but, given the continued existence in Tajikistan of Soviet-style collective farms (kolkhozy), an important socio-political institution as well.
On the political front, the big story looming in 2013 is the presidential election slated for November. The election will mark the first in Tajikistan since 2006 when Emomalii Rahmon secured his third term in office. That vote was boycotted by several opposition parties including the largest, the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP). However, this time the opposition parties are expected to participate and possibly put forth a coalition candidate. Nonetheless, 2012 was a rough year for the opposition as both religious and political figures such as Muhiddin Kabiri (the head of the IRP) and Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda (prominent cleric and former deputy prime minister) were legally harassed, imprisoned (such as Umarali Quvatov, businessman and head of the exiled opposition group “Group 24”), and even killed (notably, Sabzali Mamadrizoev, head of the IRP in the remote Gorno-Badakhshan region). Since the last presidential vote in 2006, Rahmon has seen neighboring states and allies embroiled in contested elections and subsequent hostility (witness Iran’s 2009 presidential election, the 2010 coup in Kyrgyzstan as well as the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011-2012). Despite assurances from some quarters that the country’s civil war has bred a war-weary and politically disinterested population, the regime will likely increase the pressure on the opposition and consolidate its power during the run-up to the elections in anticipation of potential unrest. President Rahmon may attempt to secure his rule by exaggerating the threat of Islamic extremism and proffering himself as a bulwark against regional instability in the context of a post-2014 Afghanistan. However the unrest this summer in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan that killed dozens was a sobering reminder of at least three things: 1) not all Tajikistanis are war weary, 2) not all threats to the regime are inspired by Islam, and 3) the regime underestimates the domestic and international backlash against such heavy-handed tactics.
via UNHCR | Refworld | Tajikistan in 2012: A Year in Review.
Authorities in Tajikistan have ordered Internet service providers, again, to block access to Facebook, local news agencies report. The blocking orders (which this time also target the local service of Radio Liberty) have become so familiar in the past year that there’s little new to say. So let’s look at how the man in charge of Internet access has explained his thinking in recent months.
Last March, the head of the communications service, Beg Zukhurov, after denying any order to block Facebook, said his office had actually blocked the site for “prophylactic maintenance.”
Internet service providers have said they were ordered to block Facebook last weekend, along with three or four news portals, by the state communications service, after one of the portals published an article severely criticizing [President Emomali] Rakhmon and his government. When queried by news agency Asia-Plus, the head of the service, Beg Zukhurov, denied any order to block Facebook, but said the authors of offensive online content “defaming the honor and dignity of the Tajik authorities” should be made “answerable.” Tajikistan frequently uses libel cases and extremism charges to silence critical journalists.
In November, Zukhurov again flipped the switch and memorably called Facebook a “hotbed of slander” when he sought a meeting with the social network’s founder and chairman, Mark Zuckerberg.
“Does Facebook have an owner? Can he come to Tajikistan? I’d meet him during visiting hours. If he does not have time, I’d talk to his assistants,” the BBC’s Russian service quoted Zukhurov as saying. (Zukhurov’s visiting hours are Saturday’s from 10am to noon.)
Zukhurov would like to discuss with Zuckerberg his theory that Facebook users are being paid to complain about their leaders, which is keeping them from discussing more important issues: “For example, somewhere in Tajikistan there is no water or roads are bad or the weather forecast is incorrect. But users do not write about these [topics]. They write especially about money issues. I was told that the users who post critical comments about officials and entrepreneurs are paid $5,000 to $10,000 for doing this. I’m very surprised about how expensive the comments are.”
The following month, over a long weekend in December, Zukhurov blocked 131 sites, seemingly chosen at random, for “technical” reasons.
The latest, short-lived mass blockade lasted from December 21- 25, and had observers scratching their heads. Some believe Zukhurov is honing techniques intended for use during elections this coming November, when President Imomali Rahmon is expected to seek another seven-year term. Tajikistan has no independent television outlets and no daily newspapers, leaving the Internet as the sole outlet open to Tajiks to air criticism of the government. Others say Zukhurov is trying to demonstrate his value to Rahmon.
[…]
Zukhurov’s actions may have unintended consequences, contends former education minister Munira Inoyatova. “The blocking of web resources – especially social networks – is widely seen as impeding access to information and prohibiting free communication. These prohibitions always increase social tensions,” Inoyatova told EurasiaNet.org.
For many, the most memorable Zukhurovism was his explanation for a communications blackout in the restive Gorno-Badakhshan province last summer, scene of heavy fighting between government troops and local warlords: A stray bullet had taken out a cable, he said, severing all phone and Internet connections to the region for a month (he did not explain the simultaneous YouTube block).
The repeated attempts to cut Tajiks’ access to the Internet – and the nonsensical explanations – have drawn widespread criticism from diplomats, press freedom watchdogs, and Tajiks embarrassed for their country. Whatever Zukhurov’s motivations, he’s helping turn isolated Tajikistan into a black hole for media freedom.
16 January 2013 Last updated at 04:49 ET Help
Afghanistan is the world’s biggest opium producer and it is estimated about a third of the drugs produced there go to Russia and Europe via Tajikistan.
Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia and the rewards that come with trafficking the drugs are hard to resist for its people struggling to make a living along its long and open border with Afghanistan.
With Nato troops preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 there are fears Tajikistan may become even more vulnerable to the trade.
The BBC’s Rustam Qobil travelled to one Tajik village on the border between the two countries where drug dealers try to recruit couriers for their trade.
Listen to the full report on Thursday, 17 January on Assignment on the BBC World Service.
Tajikistan is a transit point for one of the most lucrative drugs routes in the world.
Illegal drugs from neighbouring Afghanistan flood into the country on their way to Russia and Western Europe.
The rewards that come with trafficking the drugs can be hard to resist for Tajik people, who struggle to make a living along the country’s long and open border with Afghanistan.
In many Tajik villages on the border, villagers are sometimes recruited to help smuggle drugs along their journey into lucrative markets.
Prison sentences
Shadia (not her real name), a woman I met in a remote region near the Afghan border, knows only too well about the risks people in her village take when they give in to temptation.
“My husband wanted to buy some flour to make bread and agreed to carry some drugs,” she says.
“The police caught him along with his two brothers. Now they are all in prison.”
Unemployed and with no income, she is looking after her children by herself.
In this remote and impoverished rural community it is virtually impossible to find a job.
By Lt. Kyle Schlais, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 Public Affairs
BAHRAIN (NNS) — U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 deployed to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in November as part of a Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the first Seabee mission in Tajikistan.
In support of the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) and Tajikistan Ministry of Defense (MOD), the Seabee crew began construction alongside the MOD’s construction force, the Stroibat, on phase one of a $1 million project at the Peace Support Operation Training Center (PSOTC) at Shamsi Base, funded by GPOI.
To help boost the local economy and establish lasting relationships with contractors and vendors, the building materials were procured in nearby street vendor markets by Utilitiesman 1st Class Justin Walker, the Seabee project supervisor, and Air Force contracting officer, 1st Lt. Sunset Lo. The vendors delivered the materials in a timely manner, enabling the project to move forward on schedule.
Throughout the first phase, which included the construction of a new roof, English language lab classroom, kitchen renovations and electrical distribution repairs, the Seabees mentored 10 Stroibat soldiers, teaching them basic construction skills while building strong relationships through coordination with MOD Stroibat forces and communication with high level Tajikistan military officers.
“Working with Stroibat has been a great experience,” said Builder Constructionman Xavier Knowlesball. “It has been educational working through language barrier challenges and I am honored to be a part of the crew.”
Construction Electrician Constructionman Hunter Kiser expressed a similar sentiment.
“It has been an awesome experience working with the local construction force,” said Kiser. “Their hospitality is amazing and made our visit to Dushanbe easy, allowing us to focus on the tasking.”
With the first phase scheduled to conclude in January, planning for the second phase has already begun.
NMCB 133 is currently deployed as a part of engineering support operations throughout the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility.
For more news from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/nmcb133/.
Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry says three suspected members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have been apprehended in a special operation near the Uzbek border.
According to a ministry statement, one police officer was wounded in the operation conducted in Tajikistan’s northern region of Maschoh overnight between January 9 and 10.
Police and security forces confiscated ammunition and weapons from the suspects.
The IMU, which says it wants to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Central Asia, is believed to have links with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
It had been active in the region but moved its operations to neighboring Afghanistan in recent years.
Tajikistan saw a spike in militant activity beginning in 2010 that led to the deaths of dozens of troops.
Tajik Government may withdraw two mining licenses from Singapore’s company Marvis, CA-News reported with reference to chairman of Head Administration of Geology under Tajikistan’s government, Azim Ibrohim.
“The company has not fulfilled its obligations with regard to implementation of the projects, what might be caused by the company’s financial difficulties,” Ibrohim said.He underlined that the administration offered the company to prepare the project on mining. However, the offer was left unanswered.
via Tajikistan to withdraw mining licenses from Singapore’s company – Trend.Az.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – A soldier in Tajikistan has been killed in a gun battle with smugglers attempting to cross the porous frontier from neighbouring Afghanistan.
The Tajik security services, which handle border protection, said Tuesday that about 20 intruders opened fire after being intercepted during a nighttime patrol, killing one soldier and wounding another before fleeing.
Tajikistan is a major conduit for the trafficking of heroin and other drugs from Afghanistan to Russia and Western Europe.
The incident took place on Jan. 1. Authorities in the former Soviet republic often delay releasing information on security issues.
via Soldier in Tajikistan killed in clash with smugglers along porous border with Afghanistan.
DUSHANBE, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – A large batch of drugs containing some 122 kilograms has been seized by Tajikistan’s special services in an operation conducted in the Central Asian country’s northern Sughd Province, the State Committee for National Security said.
“A Kamaz truck driven by 46-year-old Sadriddin Safarov has been detained in a special operation,” the committee said in a statement on Thursday. “During the truck’s search, 120 kg of drugs, including 70 kg of hashish and 50 kg of opium, have been seized.”
via Over 120 Kg of Drugs Seized in Tajikistan | Crime | RIA Novosti.
DUSHANBE – The year 2013 promises change in Tajikistan as it is set to join the second World Trade Organisation (WTO) member in Central Asia after Kyrgyzstan.
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy on December 10 in Geneva signed a protocol adding Tajikistan to the WTO this summer. The Tajik parliament has until June 7 to ratify the protocol, and Tajikistan will become a full WTO member 30 days later. Tajikistan will join Kyrgyzstan as the two Central Asian countries in the WTO.
Tajikistan first applied for membership in 2001 and for the past 11 years has worked to liberalise its foreign trade and investment laws and reduce customs duties in an effort to be admitted.
“Tajikistan’s accession to the WTO will mark the beginning of a new creative stage,” Rakhmon said at the protocol signing ceremony. “The country will continue to carry out constructive reforms in all spheres of the economy and will focus on developing a free and transparent trading system.”
Two opinions on membership
While some observers agree membership will boost economic development, others are discussing changes that the Tajik domestic market can expect and whether the country will be able to compete on the world stage.
Tajikistan’s accession would help make small and medium-sized business more competitive, Tajik Chamber of Commerce and Industry Deputy Chairwoman Larisa Kislyakova told Central Asia Online.
“Considerable opportunities will open up for small manufacturing companies producing high-value-added products,” she explained. “This business sector will grow, as the main tariff concessions provided by the WTO go to these product groups.” Indeed, Tajikistan’s economy already has benefited from legal reforms mandated by the WTO, according to Saifullo Safarov, deputy director of the Presidential Centre for Strategic Studies.
“Institutionally the republic made automatic progress by adjusting its laws,” he said. “In this respect, Tajikistan is becoming more attractive to investors, whose interests will enjoy protection both under national law and from a global organisation.”
Still, some say that change could be difficult, especially for agriculture.
“Small businesses set up by local entrepreneurs in rural areas hardly will be able to compete with foreign companies,” Social-Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Shokirjon Khakimov predicted, adding that, under the terms of the WTO, agricultural subsidies in developing countries should not exceed 10% of the government budget.
Kislyakova rejected that argument, saying that Tajik agricultural subsidies presently amount to only 4% of government spending, so the cap shouldn’t be a problem. Some farmers will abandon certain crops for others, economist Khodzhimukhammad Umarov said, predicting a decrease in cotton farming and adding, “Tajik farmers will … switch to more profitable crops.”
via Tajikistan’s WTO membership offers pros and cons – Central Asia Online.
Kazakhstan, Astana, Jan.4 / D. Mukhtarov /
An earthquake measuring 4.8 occurred on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in 462 kilometers from the Kazakh city of Almaty, website of Seismological Experimental Methodological Expedition of the Science Committee of the Ministry Education and Science of Kazakhstan reported.
“Network of seismic stations of the State Institution “Seismological Experimental Methodological Expedition of the Science Committee of the Ministry Education and Science of Kazakhstan” recorded an earthquake at 04:10 on Jan.4 (Almaty time),” the report says.
The earthquake epicenter was in 462 kilometers of south-west of the Almaty city on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
via Earthquake hits border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – Trend.Az.
Mike Perdue loves the Soviet bloc.
The 54-year-old from Griswold owns a hostel in Georgia (the republic, not the U.S. state) and has visited Armenia. And he recently traveled to Tajikistan to assist dairy farmers there produce a better product.
“I don’t know,” Perdue said when asked why the area intrigues him. “A combination of reading I’ve done and interest in going beyond western Europe.”
Despite the reason, his love of the region and his love of agriculture made him a perfect fit for the Washington D.C.-based CNFA’s Farmer-to-Farmer program, which enlists volunteers to assist farmers in developing nations.
While in Tajikistan Perdue worked with farmers outside Isfara, near the country’s border with Uzbekistan. The majority of his work was in cattle rationing – ag talk for what to feed the animals and how much.
The 46 milking cows at the operation, Mirsaid, were producing about 16 pounds of milk per day, Perdue said, “about one-fourth of what they should be doing.”
via Griswold farmer helps Tajikistan dairy production – SouthwestIowaNews.com: News.
The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) is seeking guidelines from the ministry of commerce for procuring 30,000 tons of white powdered sugar for Tajikistan, as bids quoted prices higher than the already agreed price between the two countries.
Sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that TCP was facing difficulties procuring the sugar after domestic mills offered to supply powdered sugar at a minimum price of Rs 63,400 per ton (which works out to $653 per ton) against officially agreed price of $528 a ton.
On August 14 last year, Pakistan and Tajikistan struck a sugar export deal in the presence of Nurmahmad Akhmedov, the Chairman of Tajikistan’s Agency on State Material Reserves and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim. During the meeting, it was also decided that the sugar would be exported via -TCP at a discounted rate to facilitate Tajikistan.
As per initial discussions, Pakistan had agreed to supply 30,000 tons of sugar to Tajikistan at a price $20 lower than international market rates. The estimated export rate was worked out at $528 per ton as on the day of the dialogue when the sugar price in the world market was $548 per ton. Later, Tajikistan demanded white powdered sugar, which was not available with the TCP. Therefore, TCP floated a tender for procuring the same. On December 3 last year, TCP invited bids from sugar mills for the supply of 30,000 tons of ‘White Powdered Sugar’ in bags.
TASHKENT – Uzbekistan will soon stop delivering natural gas to Tajikistan, the National Information Agency of Tajikistan (Khovar) reported December 24.
Uztransgaz sent notification to Tochiktransgaz, the Tajik gas supplier, saying deliveries would stop December 31, according to Khovar. However, Tajik Energy and Industry Minister Gul Sherali December 25 told parliament that Uzbekistan would cut off gas starting December 26, CA-News.org reported.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan haven’t signed a contract yet concerning gas sales in 2013, he said.
Uzbekistan is Tajikistan’s only supplier of natural gas, Lenta.ru reported December 25.
via Uzbekistan to halt natural gas sales to Tajikistan – Central Asia Online.
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), parent company of PetroChina Co (NYSE: PTR, SHA: 601857, HKG: 0857), has set up a joint venture with French Total SA and Tethys Petroleum Ltd. to develop an oil and gas project in Tajikistan.
Total and China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp., a unit of CNPC, will each hold a third of the Bokhtar project, Tethys said in a statement Saturday.
PetroChina and Total will spend $30 million each to refund about two-thirds of historical costs and will carry some of its future spending.
“The initial work program is expected to comprise of further seismic data acquisition followed by a deep exploration well,” Tethys said. The completion is subject to final Tajik governmental approval, Bloomberg reported.
The Bokhtar license may hold an estimated 27.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources, according to a report from June 30, Tethys said. It first announced plans to bring in partners on Oct. 26.
Summary: CHF 138,467 was allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan in delivering immediate assistance to some 558 households (3,348 beneficiaries), and to replenish already distributed items.
A 5.7 Richter scale earthquake hit Rasht valley in the east of Tajikistan early morning at 4:30 AM on 13 May 2012. According to the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence of Tajikistan (CoES), the earthquake killed two, and affected 1,591 residents of 30 villages in Nurobod, Rasht and Tavildara districts.
According to the final report of disaster assessment 103 houses and 3 schools were destroyed or severely damaged (became unsafe for residence) and 117 houses, 7 schools, 3 hospitals and medical points were partially damaged, thus making the total number of the affected households reach 220. Some 196 worst affected households were covered by the non-food humanitarian aid of the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST). Psychosocial support was provided to the total of 362 households (2,172 people), covering not only those whose houses were destroyed, but also those, who suffered from the earthquake and the aftershocks’ psychological effects even without having lost their property. Due to this scale of psychological support provided, this operation is so far the biggest ever operation of this kind implemented in the country. The RCST was the only organization, which provided this type of support to the affected population during this operation.
via Tajikistan: Strong Earthquake (MDRTJ014) DREF Final report | ReliefWeb.
Total announced that it had signed an agreement with Kulob Petroleum, a subsidiary of Tethys Petroleum, to farm into the Bokhtar PSC Area in Tajikistan with a 33.335% interest. Under the agreement, signed jointly with state-owned CNODC (a subsidiary of CNPC) of China, Total and CNODC will each hold a 33.335% interest in the PSC, while Kulob will retain a 33.33% stake. The agreement is subject to the approval of the Tajikistan government.
The Bokhtar PSC covers an area of 35,000 square kilometers at the eastern end of the prolific Amu Darya Basin. A number of giant gas discoveries have already been made in the basin’s Jurassic carbonate reservoirs.
On completion of the transaction, Total will acquire an interest in the Tajikistani sector of the Amu Darya Basin, it will be partnered with CNPC.
Operations will be conducted jointly, through an operating company. Tethys has already acquired seismic data with the intention of identifying the location of the first exploration well by end-2014.
By: Bruno de Paiva
December 23, 2012
The recent opening of a visitor centre by Qatari Diar in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, is a further sign of Qatar’s desire to diversify it’s economy and use it’s economic wealth to increase it’s global clout.
Wholly controlled by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatari Diar opened the centre in December.
The visitor centre is the first phase of Diar Dushanbe, a mixed-use development in the Tajikistani capital that will encompass 68,000 square meters and is set to be completed by 2014.
The agreement for the construction of the Diar Dushanbe was signed in August 2011 and aims to provide 1,500 jobs during the construction phase and 400 jobs once the Diar Dushanbe begins operations.
via Tajikistan: Diar Dushanbe A Symbol Of Qatar’s Desired Future Outlook – Analysis Eurasia Review.
TAJIKISTAN’S president, Emomali Rakhmon, likes things big. He has built the world’s tallest flagpole. Last year he opened the region’s largest library (with few books in it so far). But one gigantic project is proving contentious with the neighbours: building the world’s tallest hydroelectric dam.
Islam Karimov, the strongman who rules downstream Uzbekistan, says the proposed 335-metre Rogun dam, on a tributary of the Amu Darya, will give Tajikistan unfair control over water resources and endanger millions in the event of an earthquake. On September 7th, he said such projects could lead to “not just serious confrontation, but even wars”.
Mr Karimov wasn’t talking only about Tajikistan. Upstream from Uzbekistan on a tributary of the region’s other major river, the Syr Darya, Kyrgyzstan is seeking investment for a project of its own, called Kambarata. The two proposed dams (Rogun at 3.6 gigawatts and Kambarata at 1.9) would theoretically end their respective countries’ frequent power shortages and provide badly needed export earnings.
Both were conceived in the twilight of the communist era and stalled when subsidies from Moscow evaporated at independence. Soviet leaders envisioned managing the region’s water flows, energy trades and competing interests, and their Russian successors still maintain an interest. During a visit to Bishkek on September 20th, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, promised help with Kambarata in exchange for, among other things, an extension of military-basing rights in Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan has sought Russian help for Rogun, too. Mr Putin promised $2 billion for the dam in 2004. But that deal fell apart three years later, when the two countries could not agree about the dam’s height.
Spurring on both projects is Uzbekistan’s bad behaviour, egregious even in a tetchy region. Unlike Uzbekistan, neither Tajikistan nor Kyrgyzstan, the two poorest former Soviet republics, has reliable access to oil or gas. Uzbekistan’s Mr Karimov has a habit of changing gas prices and cutting deliveries during the coldest months. He has prevented electricity supplies to his indigent neighbours from transiting his country’s Soviet-era grid. Uzbekistan has also unilaterally closed most border checkpoints with both upstream countries, set mines along parts of the boundary with Tajikistan, and often holds up commercial traffic. When a rail bridge in southern Uzbekistan mysteriously exploded last autumn, depriving southern Tajikistan of its rail connections, few believed Uzbek claims of a terrorist attack. Indeed, rather than fix the track, the Uzbeks dismantled it. Tajikistan calls the actions a blockade.
via Water wars in Central Asia: Dammed if they do | The Economist.
Whether it’s Israel maybe pre-emptively striking Iran, Afghanistan spiralling into sectarian violence, Libya becoming home base for Al-Qaeda, or Syria continuing to be the site of a government-led genocide, there’s no shortage of potential dirty wars and ominous harbingers in the Middle East and Central Asia. While everyone is focusing on the recent turmoil in Benghazi, a new kind of conflict is rising in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan that could eventually lead to the first water war of the 21st century.
It’s fair to say that when Louise Arbour, the hard-ass former UN prosecutor of war criminal Slobodan Milošević, lists her bets on future wars, the rest of us should take her seriously. In December 2011, writing for Foreign Policy, Arbour predicted Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two obscure Central Asian countries to most westerners, as potential combatants in a war over quickly depleting water resources. Judging by current tensions between the two, she might be right.
Basically the Tajiks, who are already plagued by an Islamic insurgency, plan to build the Rogun dam on the Vakhsh River. The river is a major tributary to the Amudarya—the main water vein for downstream Uzbekistan. While the hydroelectric power from the proposed dam would make the Tajiks rich, it’ll make the Uzbeks thirsty. This has been a problem for Uzbekistan since Stalin’s failed plan for the Transformation of Nature during the 1940s drained the Aral Sea (Uzbekistan’s main water reserve) to irrigate cotton fields.
Pissing off the Uzbeks, however, may not be what the Tajiks want to do. Besides being geopolitical wildcards, Uzbek President Islam Karimov is widely considered a tyrant, ruling over his country’s oil reserves and national wealth since a questionable 1991 election. He’s also a cheap imitation Saddam. And like any delusional dictator, he’s known for his outlandish behavior: like rewriting history books to make himself the spiritual descendant of the warlord Tamerlane, owning a soccer team in the national league (who are conveniently champions nearly every year), and allegedly ordering the assassination of a political dissident hiding in Sweden. Human Rights Watch even accused his regime of systematic torture, including boiling rebels alive.
One former diplomatic employee of a country in the region, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says the lack of western sanctions on Karimov is no surprise: “There’s the general feeling that Karimov gets off very lightly from the International community because of his violent campaign against Islamic extremists and the war on terror, which is really an excuse for a political crackdown.” Meanwhile, the Karimovs enjoys total rule over the state: “It’s modern tribalism. One family rules the country for two decades, keeping the population poor so they can use them as a cheap labor force under the loose tenants of communism,” the source added.
When or if a war will erupt is unknown. “I don’t want to speculate on the probability of a war breaking out,” says David Trilling of Eurasianet, “but Islam Karimov did up the ante [recently] by suggesting that attempts by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to build giant hydropower dams upstream could lead to war.”
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — The president of the impoverished Central Asian nation of Tajikistan has urged his countrymen to store two years’ worth of food reserves ahead of what is expected to be a harsh winter.
In a statement Wednesday, Emomali Rakhmon’s office cited him as saying that rising global commodity prices have made effective use of agricultural resources imperative.
The World Bank estimates that three-quarters of Tajikistan’s population is engaged in farming, but food scarcity still remains an acute problem.
Many observers attribute economic troubles in Tajikistan, a nation of 7 million on Afghanistan’s northern border, to rampant corruption and the enduring impact of the civil war in the 1990s.
Hundreds of thousands of working-aged men have left the country for work, mainly in Russia, leaving behind a largely female rural workforce.
via Tajik leader urges population to build food stores – Businessweek.
The rugged eastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan has been the scene of violence in recent months, with about 70 people having been killed in a government operation lasting to late August.
As President Emomali Rahmon arrives for a working visit, many questions remain as to how the violence started, and more importantly, who was behind it.
The violence began after an opposition leader from the 1990s Tajik Civil War who had become a top regional security official, Abdullo Nazarov, was stabbed to death on July 21. After protests erupted the next day, 3,000 government troops were deployed to the region on July 24.
After a week of fighting, those resisting the government forces agreed to lay down their arms on July 28 following negotiations that included representatives of the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Islam. A majority of the region’s population of 250,000 belong to the Shi’ite Muslim sect, while the rest of the country is mostly Sunni.
The situation appeared calm until late on August 22, when Imomnazar Imomnazarov, another former opposition civil war commander, was killed in an early-morning attack at his home in Khorugh, the Badakhshan region’s administrative capital. Imomnazarov had been wanted in connection with Nazarov’s killing. He reportedly had diabetes and was confined to a wheelchair.
Protesters gathered at the regional administrative building in Khorugh to demand officials fulfill promises to restore order, pelting the building with rocks and even attempting to storm the building.
On August 24, again after negotiations involving representatives of the Aga Khan, government forces announced they would withdraw from the Gorno-Badakhshan region completely.
Addressing the primary cause of mortality
In Tajikistan, like in the majority of countries in the Region, nutrition-related health problems and foodborne diseases represent a considerable public health burden. Undernutrition is still a serious but least addressed health problem. The human and economic costs are enormous, falling hardest on the poor and on women and children. Cardiovascular disease is indisputably the main cause of death in Tajikistan – accounting for 39% of total deaths. This is related to the high salt intake in the diet together with the high level of trans fats.
In addition, overweight is becoming more important in Tajikistan and is a key risk factor causing diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases among 28% women – 42% of those are of reproductive age.
A multisectoral national strategy in the making
Tajikistan started work on a national strategy to address these challenges in January 2011. The strategy focusing on two key issues:
the double burden of malnutrition (stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight)
prevention of foodborne diseases and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases
The Nutrition and Food Safety Strategy for Tajikistan (2012-2020) is developed to establish nutrition and food safety goals and provide a coherent set of integrated actions, spanning different government sectors and involving public and private actors and to be considered in the national policies and health system governance.
Suggested actions and ambitious goals
The suggested actions include improving nutrition and food safety in early life, ensuring a safe, healthy and sustainable food supply, provision of capacity building and education to citizens and consumers, integrating actions to address the burden of foodborne diseases and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases, strengthening surveillance, prevention and control of foodborne and nutrition related diseases in Tajikistan for the period of 2012-20.
The result is an impressive, comprehensive programme – a strategy which focuses on delivering a minimum food supply to families, eradicating malnutrition without hindering progress in combatting NCDs and linking up poverty and equity.
Earlier this week, President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan indicated that efforts by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build hydroelectric power stations on rivers that flowed into Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan could “spark war.”
Water wars are a hot topic right now, with conflicts or potential conflicts brewing literally all over the world. US policy makers seem most concerned with conflicts in Yemen and Pakistan, in times at the expense of seeing water wars in the broader context of their respective regions. A report drawn up for the Committee of Foreign Relations warns about the danger of narrow focus, saying:
“While the focus of the United States is appropriately directed toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is important to recognize that our water-related activities in the region are almost exclusively confined within the borders of these two countries. We pay too little attention to the waters shared by their Indian and Central Asian neighbors—Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. For example, in 2009 the United States provided approximately $46.8 million in assistance for water-related activities to Afghanistan and Pakistan compared with $3.7 million shared among all five Central Asian countries for these efforts.”
‘Water wars’ refers to the idea that some countries, which hold enough water to be able to export it, control headwaters of a river, or hold reservoirs/large sources of water, have an extremely strong source of leverage over water-scarce countries. At times, this causes water to be thought of in simplistic terms as a commodity, rather than a basic building block of life, access to which is detailed in several international human rights conventions, but not explicitly recognized as a self-standing human right in international treaties. When countries deny other states water or imply they might use water as leverage for political gain, this is water conflict, and it’s brewing in Central Asia.
Within the context of Central Asia, to simplify, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have it, and Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan need more of it. The latter two are very nervous about the resource imbalance. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are upstream of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, giving them control of two trans-border rivers.
Eurasianet points out that one of the central issues facing the five Central Asian republics is that leaders there are more known for rivalry than cooperation, which could greatly complicate any resolution on water scarcity in the overall region.
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This precedent of water being used as leverage bodes poorly for water being seen as external to political gain, or as simply a human right. The leaders of Central Asia are already deeply suspicious of each other, and border skirmishes are a common occurrence. With Karimov already warning about water wars between the Central Asian countries, and the coming reverberations of the NATO pullout from Afghanistan, there is the looming possibility of more instability in Central Asia.
via Central Asia Could Go To War Over Water – Business Insider.
At a recent meeting of TATO, the Tajik Association for Promotion of Tourism Development, its tour operator members affirmed that Tajikistan was stable and the country was open for business.
After recent events affecting the Gorno Badakshan (GBAO) region, home of the Pamirs and the Roof of The World, TATO is pleased to announce that GBAO has now been re-opened and tourists are welcome.
During the GBAO closure, tourists discovered the beauties and immense cultural heritage of the Fann Mountains and Zerafshan Valley in the northern part of the country. “As the home of the majestic Pamirs, Tajikistan can also boast the glorious Fan Mountains and the Zerafshan Valley with its ancient cities of Penjikent and Sarazm on the Silk Road, as well as the many tourist attractions in the capital Dushanbe and surrounding environs,” said veteran tour operator Mr. Surat Toimastov of Safari Pamir.
In a land ninety-three percent covered by mountains, reaching to some of the tallest peaks in the world, Tajikistan was central to the Silk Road. It is also the land where travelers can follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo and witness the World Heritage Site, Sarazm, considered the cradle of civilization.
“Now that the Pamir Mountains are once again open to foreigners and tourists,” stated Mr. Shagarf Mullo-Abdol, the well-established Pamir Silk Travel tour operator, “[visitors may] enjoy the warmth of hospitality for which the region is famous, and embrace the adventure of these towering peaks.”
TATO welcomes inquiries from the international tourism community and will be in attendance at some of the major forthcoming travel markets to update all tourism partners. The next National Tourism Conference will be held on World Tourism Day, September 27, at the Hyatt Hotel, with three international keynote speakers. Mr. Fattokh Faizullaev, Chairman of TATO affirmed. “Tajikistan awaits to welcome you.”
Source: Tajik Association for Promotion of Tourism Development
via Tajikistan Update Tajikistan open for business and tourists welcome – eTurboNews.com.
Tajikistan’s President Imomali Rahmon has promised he will soon visit Gorno-Badakhshan, the mountainous eastern region where government security forces carried out a secretive military operation this summer. If the trip goes off as planned, Rahmon will confront one the most stubborn political challenges of his tenure, trying to win over regional residents who have long relied on local strongmen more than on Dushanbe.
Officially, the deployment of thousands of heavily armed government troops to the regional capital, Khorog, came in response to the July 21 stabbing death of a local security official, Abdullo Nazarov. Officials asserted the killing was organized by an officer in the Tajik border guards, Tolib Ayombekov. He denied the charges and reportedly fought a government attempt to capture him together with three other influential local leaders, all former commanders during Tajikistan’s 1992-1997 civil war, and all suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking. A battle between the military and local armed groups on July 24 left about 50 combatants and one civilian dead, officials say. At the time, critics assailed what they described as the disproportionate use of force in what should have been a standard police investigation.
In part, this year’s clash has roots in the country’s devastating civil war, which was fought largely along regional lines. During the Soviet era, Gorno-Badakhshan (known by its Russian acronym, GBAO) was an autonomous province receiving subsidies directly from Moscow rather than Dushanbe. Inhabitants of the region, who speak a group of languages distinct from Tajik, are generally known as Pamiris. Most are Ismaili Muslims and maintain strong networks of mutual social support. Towards the end of the war, local commanders accepted peace in exchange for government positions and relative autonomy. In the years following, Rahmon managed to consolidate power elsewhere in the country, but GBAO seemed to remain out of his reach.
Drawing clear distinctions between good and bad guys can be difficult in post-civil-war Tajikistan. Men characterized by the state as criminals sometimes hold government posts, while officials in good standing, such as Nazarov, have been suspected – by local residents, Western diplomats, and researchers – of involvement in illicit activity, especially the drug trade, which is estimated to account for 30 percent of Tajikistan’s GDP.
via Tajikistan: President to Head East as Battle for Badakhshan Control Continues | EurasiaNet.org.
The Uzbek President islam Karimov has a reputation for blunt talking. But his mastery lies in nuancing his bluntness. It may sound a contrarian trait but then Karimov is a leader of many parts. That is why it is necessary to sit up and take note of his warning that wars could erupt in Central Asia over water disputes.
via Karimov threatens war, bids for peace – Indian Punchline.
Farming in Tajikistan employs around 75% of the total population, but yields so little that rural residents are in a constant struggle to make ends meet. Making matters worse are recent bad weather, outbursts of locusts and poor connections with regional markets. Food insecurity and staggering unemployment levels have become significant concerns in rural Tajikistan. To help alleviate the situation, a project funded by the European Union and administered by the World Bank created temporary jobs repairing irrigation and drainage infrastructure in parts of Khatlon region.
The Public Employment Project for Sustainable Agriculture Water Management hired 10,321 rural residents and farmers—much more than the 6,950 projected—and rehabilitated over 1,500 km of irrigation and 200 km of drainage systems in the region, while creating a number of direct and indirect social benefits.
Internet access to several Russian news outlets, YouTube, the BBC and local news portals has been cut off in Tajikistan by order of the authorities. The blackout comes after severe clashes between the army and guerrillas in the city of Khorog.
Tajik web users say they first failed to connect to the news websites, including Tajikistan’s Ozadagon, on Sunday and the block has been in place ever since. Internet providers point the finger at the country’s leaders.
“We have been instructed to block vesti.ru and youtube.com resources and this has been done,” Telecomm Technology provider told Interfax news agency in the central Asian country on Monday. “The reasons have not been explained, as usual.”
The government’s Communication Service has admitted to the BBC that they had issued the order to block the news websites.
The block seems to be exercised by a majority of providers, but not all of them. On Monday, an Interfax correspondent in Dushanbe freely entered the BBC English, Russian, Tajik and Persian websites.
via Tajikistan blocks YouTube, BBC, Russian websites after violence — RT.
Tajikistan’s government has blocked the websites of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Russian TV channel Vesti, local internet providers told RIA Novosti on Monday.
“The decision has been taken by the Governmental Communications Service,” an internet provider company spokesman said.
Tajikistan’s internet users say access to Vesti and BBC has been blocked since July 29. Earlier authorities severed access to YouTube.
Experts link the move to a controversial armed conflict in the east of the republic that took place on July 24. At least nine Tajik security officers were killed and another 25 others injured in a special operation in Tajikistan’s eastern city of Khorog against a mafia-style group believed to be behind the murder of a top Tajik security general, Abdullo Nazarov.
Dushanbe denies any casualties among civilians, but the opposition media reported some 200 dead, including security officers and civilians.
Tajik opposition activists claim that the conflict was actually an attempt by President Emomali Rakhmon to suppress opposition in the region. They have accused Tajik authorities of using Nazarov’s murder, and the recent attacks on government officials, as a pretext for an ethnic cleansing campaign, and an attempt to reestablish control over the region which has long been known as a fiefdom of local warlords.
On July 23, a day before the controversial conflict, a demonstration that apparently sparked the anger of the country’s authorities was held in Khorog. A video captured during the mass event and later posted on YouTube shows that one of those addressing the demonstration was Sabzali Mamadrizoyev, the head of the regional branch of Tajikistan’s Islamic Revival Party (IRP).
Mamadrizoyev criticized the poor social and economic situation in the country and the inactivity of authorities. The activist was found dead three days later. On Monday, Tajikistan’s Islamic Revival Party officially confirmed the assassination of Mamadrizoyev, Asia Plus news portal said.
“After the July 23 meeting, Sabzali Mamadrizoyev was detained by law enforcement authorities and taken to the Khorog border unit,” Asia Plus quoted as saying an IRP member from Khorog, without giving his name. “He was severely beaten there and then shot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Mamadrizoyev’s body was found three days later and he was buried on July 26.”
The Gorno-Badakhshan region where the conflict occured remains volatile 15 years after a civil war between the Moscow-backed government and an Islamist-led opposition. Close to 50,000 people were killed during the conflict. The five-year war ended in 1997 with a United Nations-brokered peace agreement.
Tajikistan on Saturday closed all crossing points on the border with Afghanistan.
Tajik activists have sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to help resolve the conflict.
via Tajikistan Blocks British, Russian News Websites | World | RIA Novosti.
The World Bank recently released a policy research paper on the “shifting comparative advantages in Tajikistan”- below is the summary, and a link to the whole paper.
The future development of the Tajik economy will be shaped by its comparative advantage on world markets. Exploiting comparative advantage enables an economy to reap gains from trade. Tajikistan’s most important comparative advantage is its hydropower potential, which is far larger than the economy’s domestic requirements. Yet, high capital costs of building hydropower plants and the unstable geopolitical situation in the transit region to reach South Asian export markets are constraining the realization of this potential. In the short term, the sector, which provides the greatest opportunity for Tajikistan to diversify its exports, appears to be agro-industry and, to a lesser extent, clothing. For both sectors, the main export market is likely to be the regional market. Tajikistan also has a comparative advantage in labor exports, which it has successfully exploited since the mid-2000s. To harness the full potential for labor exports will require improving the skills base of migrant workers and, in particular, their command of the Russian language. In the medium term, the paper argues that an export diversification strategy should tap the agglomeration economies generated by cities. More specifically, establishing Tajikistan’s two leading cities, Dushanbe and Khujand, and their surroundings as enclave economies, linked to each other and to major regional markets through improved transport infrastructure so as to minimize production and transportation costs. The two enclave economies should provide the supporting services (finance, logistics, transport and storage) for private sector businesses. In the long term, regional cooperation on trade and transport facilitation could be pursued to reduce transport costs to attractive regional markets such as China, India, Russia and Turkey.
via Shifting comparative advantages in Tajikistan : implications for growth strategy, Vol. 1 of 1.
HYDERABAD: Federal Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar on Saturday said that the government has entered into agreements with Tajikistan government for import of electricity while talks with India and Iran are in progress in the regard.
He hoped that the issue of power crisis will be settled soon. The minister said this while talking to media persons and speaking as chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of the installation of 20/26 MVA Power Transformer at 132 KV Tando Muhammad Khan Grid Station. The minister said that power crisis in the country was the result of the policies and non completion of power projects during the regime of the previous government. The people of the country could not experience such peak of load management, if the previous government initiated effective policies with completion of ongoing power projects, he said.
Soon after coming into power, he said that the present government initiated numbers of steps to overcome the power crisis. The government is striving hard to provide sigh of relief to the countrymen by ending the load management after completing all projects launched in power sector, he added.
via Agreements with Tajikistan for electricity import in final stage – thenews.com.pk.
Focusing on Tajikistan 