Economy Archives · Tashkent Citizen https://tashkentcitizen.com/category/economy/ Human Interest in the Balance Sat, 06 Apr 2024 13:51:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://tashkentcitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cropped-Tashkent-Citizen-Favico-32x32.png Economy Archives · Tashkent Citizen https://tashkentcitizen.com/category/economy/ 32 32 Donald Trump Media Firm Soars in Stock Market Debut https://tashkentcitizen.com/donald-trump-media-firm-soars-in-stock-market-debut/ Fri, 05 Apr 2024 13:18:11 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5910 Shares in Donald Trump’s media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market.…

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Shares in Donald Trump’s media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market.

Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn. They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.

The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn.

Analysts say that is far more than the firm’s performance warrants.

Trump Media’s Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.

It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.

By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn. It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.

Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media – which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump’s initials – to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects.

Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters.

“Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,” she said. “The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows.”

The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021.

The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public.

The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week.

Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a “pivotal moment” for the firm – and the wider media landscape.

“As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,” said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman.

“We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors.”

The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm’s shares.

He is currently barred from selling his holdings for about six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.

The company’s board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately.

If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.

Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump’s political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign.

A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.

However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is “far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value”.

Source: BBC

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Tajikistan’s Troubled Water https://tashkentcitizen.com/tajikistans-troubled-water/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 23:19:39 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5884 Dubai (27/2) Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs…

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Dubai (27/2)

Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiralling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work.

To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project.

The extent of the budget overshoot is striking.

In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin Kahhorzoda revealed that the government spent 5.2 billion somoni ($475 million) on construction work at Roghun in 2023. That was 2.7 billion somoni more than had been planned, he said.

The projected government spend for this year, meanwhile, is 5 billion somoni. It is projected that 2.2 billion somoni can be solicited from foreign-based parties, Kahhorzoda said.

When work on Roghun, a project that was in its origins the brainchild of Soviet engineers, resumed in earnest in 2008, the estimate for the overall cost stood at $3 billion. This climbed upward through the years.

In 2016, officials threw around the figure of $3.9 billion. In mid-2022, the Energy Ministry announced $5 billion would be needed for full project implementation. 

On February 1, Energy Minister Daler Juma offered a new forecast: $6.2 billion. That is high, although admittedly quite a bit short of the $8 billion prognostication he volunteered in an interview to Reuters news agency in June 2022. 

While the budget balloons, the timetable is sliding

Once completed, Roghun will be fitted with six 600 megawatt turbines, amounting to a total installed capacity of 3,600 megawatts. As Milan-based WeBuild (formerly Salini Impregilo), which has been contracted to implement the project, has claimed on its website, that is “the equivalent of three nuclear power plants.”

The first generating units were put into operation in November 2018 and September 2019 to much clamor, but there has been limited progress since then. 

State media accentuates the upside. It cites energy officials as saying that while insufficient water pressure is causing delays, the generating units in place have to date produced around 7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. They furthermore value that volume of electricity at 1.5 billion somoni ($137 million).

Current annual electricity production in Tajikistan, much of which is accounted for by the Soviet-vintage Nurek hydropower plant, is around 17 billion kilowatt-hours.

Putting this together, it implies that Roghun has, since the first generating unit began working, likely contributed to well under one-tenth of Tajikistan’s electricity output. 

In 2019, managers of the Roghun hydroelectric plant reportedly predicted — possibly speaking in the spirit of hope rather than pragmatism — that a third generating unit would be installed within another two years. All six units were to be operational by 2026, according to that timetable. 

That was before COVID-19, however. The pandemic caused a major slowdown on work at Roghun along with much other economic activity in the country. 

Another deadline is now in place

“We intend to put the third unit of the Roghun hydroelectric power station into operation in 2025,” President Emomali Rahmon said in an address to the nation in December.

He noted in that speech that the project is employing 15,000 laborers and technicians.

When Rahmon speaks of Roghun in his speeches, he couches the project in talk of the “bright future” awaiting the country and that it should serve as a “source of pride” for every Tajik citizen.

A more sober reality is that Roghun is part of the race against time to keep the country’s economy afloat.

Despite the additional productive capacity added by Roghun, the population still has to endure annual rationing of electricity.

When the temperature sinks below a certain level, output from the Nurek hydropower plant grinds to a near-halt. Under the annually imposed economy regime due to end in March, as is customary, households outside the country’s largest urban centers endure blackouts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m and then from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Meanwhile, the rate of population growth means that demand for electricity will continue surging. 

The World Bank in 2022 estimated that Tajikistan had the “youngest and fastest growing population in the Europe and Central Asia region.”

“Children under six years old comprise 17 percent of Tajikistan’s population, while roughly one of every three people is under 15 years of age,” the bank said at the time.

State statisticians have said that the current population of Tajikistan is just a whisker over 10.1 million. Fresh figures from last week, based on birth and death data, showed a population increase of 200,000 in 2023. That is a 2 percent rise.

Getting a clear and reliable idea of how much has been spent on Roghun over the past 16 years is tricky. Juma, the Energy Minister, threw out the figure of $3 billion in 2022. 

Dushanbe-based news outlet Asia-Plus cracked some numbers to come up with an updated estimate earlier this month and arrived at around 40 billion somoni, or $4 billion.

Considering current projections, which Juma says were calculated with the assistance of international consultants, that leaves $2.2 billion to go.

Tajikistan makes no secret of the fact that it is hoping for white knight investors to swoop in and provide the cash needed to get it over the line. 

But its efforts to get foreign funding so far have exposed it to considerable debt-servicing expenditure. 

In September 2017, the National Bank issued $500 million worth of eurobonds on the international market. That venture means Tajikistan is on the hook for around $850 million to be paid to investors by 2027.

Important chunks are arriving from here and there, though.

In December, the state-backed Saudi Fund for Development announced it was under a development loan agreement with Tajikistan contributing $100 million to fund the Roghun project.

A few months earlier, in May, China-dominated development lender Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank had reportedly — according to President Rahmon’s office — pledged to extend a soft $500 million loan to Dushanbe for the same purpose. Talk on this commitment has gone a little quiet since then.

Back in 2022, a representative for the European Union’s investment arm, the European Investment Bank, told Reuters that it was exploring becoming “the largest investor” in Roghun. That conversation too has withered for reasons unreported.

Environmental concerns are another factor.

Last month, a coalition of nongovernmental groups — Rivers without Boundaries, the NGO Forum on Asian Development Banks and the Bankwatch Network — issued a collective appeal to development banks to demand public discussions on an updated environmental assessment of Roghun before parting with any funds. The World Bank-backed environmental impact assessment conducted in 2014 is now woefully out of date, the coalition argued in its statement.

“Over the last 10 years we accumulated new knowledge about the dynamics of climate change, new factors of impact on the hydrological regime of the Vakhsh River and the entire Amu Darya basin,” Evgeny Simonov, international coordinator for Rivers without Boundaries, was cited as saying.

“Even the most superficial analysis shows that potential transboundary impacts of the [Roghun] hydropower plant are enormous, and their consideration in the new environmental assessment … is practically non-existent.”

Source: Eurasia

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Transport, energy co-op between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan enhances https://tashkentcitizen.com/transport-energy-co-op-between-uzbekistan-and-kazakhstan-enhances/ Wed, 21 Feb 2024 13:30:35 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5831 TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, February 2. Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in the sphere of transportation and energy has significantly intensified, Trend reports.…

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, February 2. Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in the sphere of transportation and energy has significantly intensified, Trend reports.

This was discussed during a meeting between Uzbekistan’s Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and his Kazakh counterpart, Alikhan Smailov.

The delegation of Uzbekistan, headed by Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov arrived in Almaty (Kazakhstan) to participate in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and Digital Forum.

At the meeting, the sides noted the rapid development of strategic partnerships and alliances between the two countries in the spirit of friendship, good neighborliness, and mutual respect, and representatives of both countries defined specific tasks for further development of multilateral relations.

They also emphasized positive growth dynamics between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in all directions.

In particular, the volume of trade has more than doubled over the past 7 years, important joint projects are being implemented in various sectors of the economy, and interregional and cultural-humanitarian cooperation is expanding.

At the meeting, the parties exchanged views on these and other topical issues on the agenda.

Meanwhile, trade turnover volume between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan amounted to $4.3 billion.

Source: Trend

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IsDB provides US$70 million to enhance Tajikistan’s education sector https://tashkentcitizen.com/isdb-provides-us70-million-to-enhance-tajikistans-education-sector/ Sun, 18 Feb 2024 13:25:09 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5828 The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) supports investment projects to enhance Tajikistan education sector.  The press center of the…

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The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) supports investment projects to enhance Tajikistan education sector. 

The press center of the Ministry of Finance of Tajikistan (MoF) says a loan agreement for 45 million US dollars and a grant of 25 million US Dollars were signed in Dushanbe on January 30 between the Government of Tajikistan, represented by Mr. Faiziddin Qahhorzoda, Minister of Finance, and the Islamic Development Bank, represented by Mr. Ibrahim Shukri, IsDB Regional Director for Central Asia.  

This soft loan provided by the IsDB and the grant provided by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) are reportedly allocated to co-finance the 2nd phase of the Quality Education Support Program designed to support the implementation of the Tajikistan’s National Development Strategy for the period up to 2030 priorities on expanding productive employment as well as enhancing the human capital development.

In addition, the Program is facilitating the implementation of the National Strategy for Education Development until 2030, as well as the commitments of the Government of Tajikistan towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Tajikistan joined the Islamic Development Bank on November 27, 1996 and has a capital subscription of ID 18.2 million (0.04% of total IsDB subscribed capital).

The IsDB supports implementation of investment projects in education, healthcare, energy, transportation, agrarian and other priority socioeconomic sectors of Tajikistan.   To-date, the IsDB has reportedly accepted 86 investment projects in a total amount of 641 million USD, and US$286 million worth of 23 projects have been implemented in various sectors of Tajikistan’s economy so far.

The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  There are 57 shareholding member states with the largest single shareholder being Saudi Arabia.

GPE is a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis.  It mobilizes partners and funds to support nearly 70 countries to transform their education systems, so that every girl and boy can get the quality education they need to unlock their full potential and contribute to building a better world.

Source: Asia Plus

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Will the Third Time Be the Charm for Tajikistan’s Thwarted Power Transition? https://tashkentcitizen.com/will-the-third-time-be-the-charm-for-tajikistans-thwarted-power-transition/ Fri, 16 Feb 2024 17:50:23 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5850 Infighting over the succession and growing frustration in the regions could shatter the stability that the Tajik president…

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Infighting over the succession and growing frustration in the regions could shatter the stability that the Tajik president has been building for so many years.

Next year will mark thirty years of Emomali Rahmon’s presidency in Tajikistan, now the only country in Central Asia that has not seen a change of leadership since the early 1990s. Unsurprisingly, there have been rumors of an imminent transition of power for a decade.

The name of the successor is no secret: it’s Rahmon’s son, thirty-six-year-old Rustam Emomali. But there is no consensus within the president’s large family over the succession. Some of the president’s other children have their own ambitions to run the country, which could upset plans for the transition.

President Rahmon is seventy-one years old, and has reportedly suffered numerous health issues. Arrangements for the transition have long been in place, but events keep getting in the way of its implementation: first the pandemic and its economic fallout, and then the street protests in neighboring Kazakhstan in January 2022, which frightened the Tajik leader and persuaded him it was not a good time to step down. Even Turkmenistan has seen a power transition in recent years. Now Tajikistan is expected to implement its own in 2024.

Rustam has already headed a number of government agencies. Since 2017, he has been mayor of Dushanbe: a post he has combined since 2020 with that of speaker of the upper house of parliament, to whom power would automatically pass if the current president were to step down early.

His supporters argue that as the capital’s mayor, he has improved the city, supported youth initiatives, and started to form his own team of young technocrats. Some are counting on him to carry out at least limited reforms once he is in power, such as those seen in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Not everyone believes Rustam is ready to take over, however. The future president is an unknown quantity for most Tajiks. All of his public appearances are prerecorded and accompanied by information read out by the broadcaster, meaning that people have not even heard him speak. His nickname on social media is “the great mute.”

More worryingly, the heir apparent has reportedly shot and wounded two people: his own uncle in 2008, and—just last year—the head of the State Committee for National Security, Saimumin Yatimov, supposedly for refusing to carry out orders.

There are those within the presidential family who do not want to see Rustam succeed his father because they fear losing prestigious posts in government and business. They are indignant that there are no relatives within the team he is building. The current president cannot possibly keep everyone happy, and this could threaten the transition, as ambitious clan members prepare to battle it out for the top job in order to retain their privileges.

Rahmon has seven daughters and two sons. The most ambitious of them is generally considered to be the second daughter Ozoda, who has headed up the presidential administration since 2016. She is very experienced, works well with her staff, and has the trust of the security services. Unsurprisingly, given the alleged shooting incident, there is no love lost between Rustam and the country’s main security official Yatimov, who has reportedly been paving the way for Ozoda’s candidacy. In addition, her husband Jamoliddin Nuraliev is also considered a very influential figure, having been deputy chair of the country’s central bank for over seven years.

Another contender for the presidency could be Rahmon’s fifth daughter, Ruhshona, a seasoned diplomat who is well versed in Tajikistan’s political affairs. Her husband is the influential oligarch Shamsullo Sohibov, who made his fortune thanks to his family connection to the president. Together with his brothers, he controls entire sectors of the economy, including transport, media, and banking. Change at the top could deprive the Sohibov clan of both influence and money, so Ruhshona and her husband may well throw their hats into the ring.

They might get the backing of Rahmon’s other children, who also control various sectors of the economy, including air travel (the third daughter, Tahmina) and pharmacies (the fourth daughter, Parvina). There are also plenty of Rahmon’s more distant relatives who owe their fortunes to the president and fear losing their positions under his successor.

Rahmon has relied on the loyalty of various relatives to ensure the stable functioning of his regime. But overly vociferous squabbles within the family could destabilize the situation, and for precisely this reason, Rahmon has tried to temper their ambition. Ruhshona, for example, was sent to the UK as Tajik ambassador to stop her from interfering in the plans for the transition. Her oligarch husband went with her.

Nor is the heir apparent himself outside the fray. There is evidence that Rustam was involved in leaking information to the media about his sister Ozoda’s alleged affair with her driver: something that, in patriarchal Tajikistan, caused serious damage to her reputation. There are also rumors that Ozoda’s main ally Yatimov will be retired from his post as head of the security services and replaced with a close friend of Rustam, Shohruh Saidov.

Right now, international circumstances are conducive to a swift transition. Tajikistan’s relations with its trickiest neighbors, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, are improving. While the Taliban has yet to be recognized as the legitimate Afghan government by Dushanbe, both sides agreed to strengthen economic ties during the first visit to Tajikistan by a delegation from the radical Islamist movement in March this year. Meanwhile, the Tajik government has pledged to resolve the border dispute with Kyrgyzstan—an issue that has led to several armed clashes in the last three years—by spring 2024. Rahmon is clearly trying to hand over a stable country to his son.

The situation at home, however, is more complicated. There is also considerable opposition to Rustam’s candidacy among the regional elites, who have long supported Rahmon in exchange for access to state resources, and are now seeing many of the most lucrative cash flows appropriated by the presidential family. A transition of power could be an opportune moment to express their displeasure.

Events in Gorno-Badakhshan in spring 2022 were a stark warning of the dangers of that displeasure. After the civil war that ravaged the country in the early 1990s, many of its field commanders settled in the region. Over time, they became informal leaders of the local communities, helping to solve problems that the central government was ignoring, sometimes strong-arming local officials into making the required decision. Rahmon ordered several security operations to rid Gorno-Badakhshan of this dual power system, only for it to reemerge further down the line.

Last spring, protests erupted there after a local man was killed by law enforcement officers. The unrest lasted for several months until Rahmon crushed it by force. Many of the activists were killed or imprisoned, while others fled the country, and the region was brought back under Dushanbe’s control. But the anger simmering in the region could boil over again at the first sign of conflict.

For now, the other regions remain loyal to the regime, but that could change after the power transition if the local elites feel they are not getting sufficient state resources.

By directing all the streams of income and control of the country to his own relatives, Rahmon has painted himself into a corner. Infighting over the succession and growing frustration in the regions could shatter the stability that the president has been building for so many years. Power transitions rarely go to plan in Central Asia, and Tajikistan may be no exception.

Source

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Turkmenistan, Türkiye explore opportunities for enhanced bilateral co-op https://tashkentcitizen.com/turkmenistan-turkiye-explore-opportunities-for-enhanced-bilateral-co-op/ Thu, 15 Feb 2024 10:19:00 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5825 ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, February 2. Turkmenistan and Türkiye discussed the possibilities of further deepening bilateral cooperation, Trend reports. These discussions transpired during…

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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, February 2. Turkmenistan and Türkiye discussed the possibilities of further deepening bilateral cooperation, Trend reports.

These discussions transpired during a telephone conversation between Turkmenistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rashid Meredov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, Hakan Fidan.

During the dialogue, the two parties engaged in a comprehensive exchange of views on a range of pertinent issues concerning Turkmen-Turkish cooperation, fostering a constructive discussion environment.

The parties discussed the implementation of bilateral agreements reached at the highest state level, and also considered the possibilities of further increasing the potential of mutual partnership in the political, diplomatic, trade and economic spheres.

Furthermore, the heads of the foreign ministries agreed to maintain regular contacts between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan and Türkiye are strategically fostering the development of their bilateral relations, with both nations engaging in continuous discussions and collaborative initiatives to strengthen diplomatic ties and enhance mutual cooperation.

For example, recently representatives of Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), a state-owned crude oil and natural gas trading company, and Turkmengaz, Turkmenistan’s national gas company, have held a meeting to discuss prospects for exporting Turkmen gas to Europe via Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

Source: Trend

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Kazakhstan intends to digitalize industrial sector, minister says https://tashkentcitizen.com/kazakhstan-intends-to-digitalize-industrial-sector-minister-says/ Sat, 10 Feb 2024 09:08:00 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5819 ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 2. Kazakhstan intends to digitalize the industrial sector of the economy, said Minister of Digital Development,…

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 2. Kazakhstan intends to digitalize the industrial sector of the economy, said Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan Bagdat Musin, Trend reports.

He made the remark during the Digital Almaty 2024 forum.

“This year, the forum is dedicated to the digitalization of industrial sectors of the economy. Our industry must be digitized. This is not a tribute to a trend; this is necessary for competitiveness. The Environmental Code stipulates that enterprises that release ozone-depleting substances into the atmosphere must install certain sensors,” he said.

According to the minister, these sensors transmit information in real time to a central database.

“That is, we must ensure control of the entire environmental situation at all industrial enterprises. Today, this system has already been created, and enterprises are gradually connecting. Today, about 20 enterprises are already connected,” Bagdat Musin said.

As he added, these sensors are being developed in Kazakhstan.

“We also have experience in creating SCADA systems. Previously, we purchased these systems from abroad; today, there are already several Kazakhstani solutions. Kazakh designs are being installed throughout our entire energy system. And there are many such examples. We also focus on robotization. Industrial sectors of the economy must rely heavily on robots. Therefore, we have created a center for the development of industrial robots, which will help accelerate and scale robotization in industrial sectors of the economy,” the minister noted.

Source: Trend

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Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers issues directives for Bishkek TPP accident recovery https://tashkentcitizen.com/kyrgyzstans-cabinet-of-ministers-issues-directives-for-bishkek-tpp-accident-recovery/ Sun, 04 Feb 2024 12:03:23 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5813 BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, February 2. Akylbek Japarov, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Head of the…

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, February 2. Akylbek Japarov, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Head of the Presidential Administration, has issued a series of directives to address the aftermath of the incident at the Bishkek Thermal Power Plant (TPP), Trend reports.

According to the Kyrgyzstan Cabinet of Ministers, Japarov visited the site to inspect the progress of recovery efforts and chaired a meeting, where he provided directives to relevant state entities.

Specifically, the Ministry of Energy, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Bishkek, has been tasked with leading the operational headquarters and presenting comprehensive information on the reasons for the incident and a plan for further actions to ensure the full operation of the capital’s thermal power plant by 5:00 PM (GMT+6).

The Ministry of Emergency Situations and the State Agency for Architecture, Construction, and Housing and Communal Services have been instructed to commence work on the restoration of the affected facilities at the thermal power plant.

The Ministry of Health is tasked with closely monitoring and providing necessary assistance to the affected employees of the thermal power plant.

The Ministry of Finance has been directed to promptly allocate the necessary financial resources for the restoration works.

Japarov emphasized that the primary task at present is to restore heat supply to the citizens’ residences and prevent the recurrence of similar situations.

On February 2, 2024, at 03:00 AM (GMT+6), the Bishkek TPP, a major electricity-generating facility in Kyrgyzstan, experienced an accident, resulting in equipment failure. The Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan established an operational headquarters to restore damaged equipment and address the incident’s consequences. Five employees were injured and are currently receiving treatment.

Source: Trend

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Emomali Rahmon reiterates the necessity of making two-year food stocks; this time due to climate change https://tashkentcitizen.com/emomali-rahmon-reiterates-the-necessity-of-making-two-year-food-stocks-this-time-due-to-climate-change/ Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:02:54 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5810 President Emomali Rahmon once again calls on Tajikistanis to make two-year food stocks; this time due to climate…

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President Emomali Rahmon once again calls on Tajikistanis to make two-year food stocks; this time due to climate change and deterioration of the socioeconomic situation in the world. 

“In recent years, I have always emphasized that every family in the country must have a supply of necessary food products for up to two years,” Rahmon noted in his congratulatory message on the occasion of the Sada festival on January 28.  

The head of state emphasized that climate change and deterioration of the socioeconomic situation in the world make this issue especially relevant. 

In this context, making two-year food stocks becomes an important measure to ensure the country’s food security, the president noted. 

The Tajik president’s official website says Emomali Rahmon has emphasized that this decision is based on in-depth analysis of the unpredictable situation in the modern world, including the collapse of old supply chains and constant rise in food prices.  

The president reportedly noted that “everyone must work harder, use land and water efficiently and rationally, produce as much product as possible, contributing to the implementation of the national strategic goal – protection of the country’s food security.”  

Source: Asia Plus

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International Day of People With Disabilities. Tajikistan Has Recognized the Rights of Persons With Disabilities at the International Level https://tashkentcitizen.com/international-day-of-people-with-disabilities-tajikistan-has-recognized-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-at-the-international-level/ Thu, 04 Jan 2024 13:51:07 +0000 https://tashkentcitizen.com/?p=5642 DUSHANBE, 12/03/2023 /NIAT “Khovar”/. Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which was proclaimed by the…

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DUSHANBE, 12/03/2023 /NIAT “Khovar”/. Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on October 14, 1992. On this day, the Assembly called on UN member states to carry out activities aimed at further integrating people with disabilities into society.

On March 22, 2018, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, respected Emomali Rahmon, signed a document on Tajikistan’s accession to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is recognition of their rights at the international level.

In Tajikistan today there are about 160 thousand people with disabilities, of which about 32 thousand are children.

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the country, in Tajikistan, disabled people are divided into several categories: disabled war veterans and persons equivalent to them, disabled people with general illness, disabled people with occupational diseases, disabled people with work injuries, disabled liquidators of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, disabled people with military service and children -disabled people.

The rights and interests of disabled people or persons with limited capabilities are protected by the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Social Protection of Disabled Persons”. There are also laws of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Veterans”, “On Social Protection of Persons Affected as a result of the Liquidation of the Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant”, which outline the rights of persons with disabilities.

As noted by the Head of the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population, Kudratullo Kurbonzoda, during the period of independence, significant work has been carried out to improve the lives of people with disabilities. “The State Enterprise “Prosthetic and Orthopedic Plant” in Dushanbe with branches in Khujand, Kulyab and Khorog has been reconstructed and equipped with modern equipment. In 1996, this enterprise was completely reconstructed with funds from the ministry, and in 2015 a new workshop for the production of walkers was created. In 2018-2019, with the involvement of development partners, the plant’s branches in the cities of Kulyab and Khujand were completely renovated and equipped with modern equipment for the production of prosthetic and orthopedic products, and in 2023 – a branch in Khorog,” added Kudratullo Kurbonzoda.

The purpose of the date is to draw public attention to the problems associated with protecting the rights of people with disabilities, because it is obvious that their rights to employment, accessible education and infrastructure are very often not respected even in economically developed countries, not to mention others.

In a conversation with a correspondent of NIAT “Khovar”, the Chairman of the National Association of Disabled Persons of Tajikistan, Asadullo Zikrikhudoev, noted that Tajikistan is implementing the National Action Program for the ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the period 2020-2024. In this direction, the association, in cooperation with government agencies and with the support of international organizations, is carrying out extensive work, not only in Dushanbe, but also in the regions.

“Representatives of our association visit the regions and try to resolve issues of people with disabilities at the proper level. Unfortunately, in many areas, when constructing and renovating facilities, they do not pay attention to creating an accessible environment for people with disabilities. Some buildings do not meet the standards adopted in the Republic of Tajikistan. As part of cooperation with the UN, we are considering the issue of involving people with disabilities in the workforce. In this direction, with the support of the UN Office in the Republic of Tajikistan, desk analyzes of the legislation of Tajikistan on the employment of people with disabilities have been carried out since January 2023 to this day. In solving problems with disabilities, we also take into account the experience of neighboring countries. Research shows that Kazakhstan has advanced the most in this matter, and we are adopting its experience,” the interlocutor added.

As part of the International Day of People with Disabilities, an event was held in Dushanbe in which the process of implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) to prepare Tajikistan for the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the role of this document to strengthen and ensure the rights of people with disabilities was discussed.

The purpose of the event was to review and determine the progress of implementation of the provisions and plans of the NAP in 2023.

Source: Khovar TJ

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