A diverse group of Pamiri and Ismaili interest groups gathered to discuss the terror attack in Moscow. “We reject the notion this were Pamiris or Ismailis representing us”, said one of the spokespeople, who want to remain anonymous out of fear of persecution by the Tajik authorities. 

“They are Takfiris”, he said. Non-believers, apostates to the cause. The majlis (meeting) was called after Moscow was quick to blame Tajik immigrants for the terror attacks. Previous warnings were ignored by Moscow. “We as a Pamiri community do not belief in the use of violence against the innocent. We understand the suffering and pain caused by such an attack.”, he added. 

The leaders assembled in Dushanbe and represented most of the diaspora in Tajikistan and abroad. “The attempt to taint us with the terrorists is rejected.”, he added. 

The post Tajikistan: These are no Muslims appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.

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

The post Tajikistan’s Troubled Water appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.

Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiraling, 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 particular 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

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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

The post Will the Third Time Be the Charm for Tajikistan’s Thwarted Power Transition? appeared first on Tashkent Citizen.

Up-and-down relations between Iran and Tajikistan in the past decade shot up again after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s official visit to Dushanbe on November 8-9, his second trip to the Tajik capital in 18 months.

Raisi’s visit to Tajikistan was symbolically important amid a rapprochement between the countries that overshadowed the relatively standard batch of bilateral agreements that were signed.

During the trip, Raisi and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, announced a historic visa-free travel agreement for their citizens and deals in trade, transportation, and culture, among others.

High-ranking visits have become a regular occurrence between the two countries in the past year — with Iranian Defense Minister Reza Qaraei Ashtiani visiting Tajikistan in October and chief prosecutor Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri leading a judiciary delegation to Dushanbe in June.

But relations haven’t always been rosy between the two Persian-speaking countries, which share close linguistic, cultural, and historical ties as well as a common key ally, Russia.

Ties were marred in the past decade by tensions that saw the severing of investment and export deals, the suspension of direct flights, and the closure of Iranian charity and culture centers in Tajikistan.

Iran angered Tajikistan in 2015 by inviting the head of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) to a conference just months after the party was very dubiously banned and branded a terrorist group by Dushanbe.

Enraging Dushanbe further, IRPT leader Muhiddin Kabiri was photographed being greeted by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the event.

The relationship plunged to a new low in 2017 when Tajik state television — a government mouthpiece — accused Iran of financing and ordering political assassinations in Tajikistan after a string of prominent public figures, including politicians and scholars, were killed between 1997 and 2004.

In response, Iran accused Tajikistan of making baseless, blatant lies.

On Again, Off Again

Amid the tensions, Rahmon didn’t attend President Hasan Rohani’s second-term swearing-in ceremony in 2017. But all seemed forgotten when Dushanbe and Tehran started mending ties and Rohani visited Dushanbe in June 2019.

In September 2020, Tajik state TV aired another controversial documentary accusing Iran of financing militant activity in Tajikistan.

Tehran called the claim a “baseless allegation” and warned Dushanbe about “the consequences of behavior” that breaches “the rules of friendly relations.”

The documentary came as the Tajik Supreme Court reportedly jailed some 50 Tajiks — former graduates of Iranian universities — on charges of treason and religious extremism in closed-door trials.

Because the Tajik state media and the judiciary reflect precise government positions on issues, Dushanbe’s motives behind delivering a new blow to its ties with Iran are unclear.

What Does The Future Hold?

Rahmon also failed to attend Raisi’s inauguration ceremony in August 2021, citing a prior engagement. But the two presidents did meet the following month, when Raisi chose Tajikistan as the destination for his first foreign trip as president, coupling it with attendance at a key regional security summit.

Bilateral ties have, since then, increasingly strengthened.

In early 2022, Dushanbe and Tehran announced plans to increase bilateral trade to $500 million in future from just $121 million in 2021. And Rahmon went to Tehran in May 2022 — his first trip to Tehran in nine years, as relations were rekindled.

Ahmet Furkan Ozyakar, a Turkish-based expert on regional politics, said Iran’s “look-toward-the-east policy under President Raisi is…a noteworthy determinant in advancing relations with Dushanbe” amid Iran’s severe economic problems due to Western sanctions over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

“In the upcoming months we expect more official meetings between Dushanbe and Tehran at the ministerial level as part of this rapprochement in joint military and security agreements, along with increasing trade capacities,” Ozyakar, a lecturer on international relations at Ataturk University, told RFE/RL.

But given the recent history of the ups and downs between Iran and Tajikistan, some analysts are not as optimistic.

Touraj Atabaki, a prominent Middle East and Central Asia expert, doesn’t rule out the possibility of new “problems” arising in the foreseeable future. Atabaki, professor emeritus at Leiden University, says any major political changes within one of these two countries or international developments could affect relations between Dushanbe and sanctions-hit Iran.

“Tajikistan’s approach to international affairs is different from Iran’s approach on that matter. Challenges in the world arena might either bring them closer or break them apart — challenges like Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine or the current [Israel-Hamas] war, which threatens to spread to the wider West Asia region,” Atabaki told RFE/RL.

Source

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The capital’s police officers detained a group of young people suspected of hooliganism, reports the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan.

According to the source, a 43-year-old local resident contacted department 1 in the Sino district of Dushanbe with a statement that on November 29, 2023, at approximately 19:15 in the evening, not far from the “Khalovat” store, located on the territory of the Giprozem mahalla capital, an unknown group of young people who, out of hooligan motives, beat his 23-year-old son, stabbed him in the stomach and fled the scene.

As a result, the victim was seriously injured. During operational search activities, police officers detained 21, 24, 21 and 27-year-old residents of Dushanbe on suspicion of hooliganism. An investigation into this fact is underway.

Source: Avesta TJ

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In Dushanbe, when building houses, departments, shopping centers and even bus stops, people with limited mobility are the last thing they think about. According to the law, ramps must be provided for them everywhere (!), and even their standards are prescribed, but in reality they are made (if they are made) according to the principle – just to be there. They are narrow, with a too steep slope, and without railings. And, of course, they are lined with tiles – as if without this there is little chance of breaking your neck on it.

Two-level sidewalks, various obstacles in the form of curbs and uneven roads also do not allow certain categories of citizens to move freely in the city.

And Asia-Plus has written about this more than once.

Here is a photo strip we made 7 years ago.

It cannot be said that there have been no improvements at all over the past years, but they are so insignificant that it is somehow awkward to talk about them.

If earlier experts referred to the difficulty of reconstructing old buildings due to narrow doorways, high building plinths, sidewalks and other features, today, with colossal changes in the city and a large number of new buildings, this problem, it would seem, should be solved.

More precisely, with the construction of new buildings it should not exist at all. But this is if the developer complies with construction standards.

And how many of them are there – observing?

Let’s get a look.

We took these photos today.

How should it be?

When designing a ramp, a number of standards and rules must be taken into account, which are given in GniP RT 35-01-2012 “Accessibility of buildings and structures for low-mobility groups of the population.”

According to paragraph 89 of this document, the maximum height of one rise (flight) of the ramp should not exceed 0.8 m with a slope of no more than 8%.

If the difference in floor heights on the traffic paths is 0.2 m or less, it is allowed to increase the slope of the ramp to 10%.

In other cases, a spiral ramp must be installed.

The minimum width of the ramp should be 90-100 cm. According to the regulations, the surface of the ramp must be non-slip, and the structure itself must be made of fire-resistant material.
And in accordance with paragraph 92 of the specified regulatory document, along both sides of all stairs and ramps, as well as at all height differences of more than 0.45 m, it is necessary to install fences with handrails.

Also, for movement in buildings whose width does not allow the installation of conventional ramps, there are removable ones.

They can be installed directly above the stairs and unfolded when in use. The rest of the time, they are folded and secured to the wall using a special lock or construction hinges.

Are there penalties for installing incorrect ramps?
For violation of rules in the field of architectural, urban planning and construction activities, administrative liability is provided under Article 409 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Tajikistan

According to Art. 68 of the Urban Planning Code, state supervision in the urban planning industry is carried out by the authorized state body in the field of architecture and urban planning, local authorities for the supervision of urban planning architecture in accordance with their regulations approved in the prescribed manner.

Officials of the authorized state body for supervision of architecture and urban planning, in case of detection of violations by officials of state bodies, enterprises, institutions and other organizations, are obliged to:

• send instructions to the relevant government bodies, enterprises, institutions and other organizations to eliminate identified violations of the legislation on urban planning and set deadlines for eliminating such violations;
• send information about facts of violation of laws to the prosecutor’s office for taking measures;
• take measures necessary to bring managers and other officials of state bodies of enterprises, institutions and other organizations to responsibility established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Article 432 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Tajikistan Evasion from execution of instructions of state bodies for architecture and construction entails a fine for individuals in the amount of twenty to forty, for officials – from one hundred to two hundred and for legal entities – from two hundred to four hundred times the minimum monthly wage.
Today the calculation figure is 68 somoni. From January 1, 2024 it will increase to 72 somoni.

Source: Asia Plus TJ

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Eight United Nations experts are awaiting a response from Tajik authorities to a letter expressing concern about the fate of convicted journalists and civil activists. UN experts and special rapporteurs in their letter demanded an explanation from Dushanbe regarding reports of gross violations of the rights of nine convicted journalists and bloggers, as well as civil activists. The letter dated 12 May 2023, is published here. UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor has visited Tajikistan earlier to address the human rights violations in the country.

In their appeal, which UN experts sent to Dushanbe in May of this year, they provided details of the detention and imprisonment, as well as information about the conditions of detention in correctional institutions for journalists and bloggers Daleri Imomali, Abdullo Gurbati, Zavkibeki Saidamini, Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda, Khushruz Jumaev, human rights activists Abdulmajid Rizoev, Manuchehra Kholiknazarov, Faromuz Irgashev and civil activist Ulfatonim Mamadshoeva.

The letter to Tajikistan authorities was signed by the UN Special Rapporteur of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Gill Edwards, cites cases of torture and ill-treatment of detainees. UN experts also criticized the Tajik authorities for imprisoning detained journalists and bloggers on trumped-up charges of extremism and collaboration with banned organizations.

Last year, authorities sentenced them to terms ranging from 7 years to life in prison. Supporters of those convicted and international human rights organizations believe that the arrests and detention of journalists and civil activists were politically motivated. UN experts noted in a 20-page letter that from arrest to trial, the rights of detained journalists and activists were grossly violated.

One of the convicts, Daler Emomali, was accused of illegal entrepreneurship, dissemination of knowingly false information and participation in an extremist association, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, human rights activists believe that the authorities took revenge on him for his critical videos.

The letter expresses concern about the fate of journalist and civil activist Ulfatonim Mamadshoeva, whom the authors call a representative of the “Pamir minority.” UN experts expressed regret that the Tajik authorities never responded to their previous letters regarding the fate of Mamadshoeva.

66-year-old Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva was sentenced to 21 years in prison in early December 2022 . The Tajik authorities accused Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva of organizing mass riots in the Rushan district and the city of Khorog in May 2022. Supporters of Mamadshoeva consider the criminal case to be fabricated.

The letter, signed, in particular, by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Gill Edwards, cites cases of torture and ill-treatment of detainees. The authors write that the arbitrary arrests of some of those convicted are contrary to the laws of Tajikistan and international law. UN experts also criticized the Tajik authorities for imprisoning detained journalists and bloggers on trumped-up charges of extremism and collaboration with banned organizations. The actions of the Tajik authorities are a stern warning to other human rights defenders: criticism will be severely punished.

The letter was officially sent to the government of Tajikistan in May. The authorities had to respond to this message within 60 days. However, apparently, there was no response from Dushanbe: the UN, as a rule, publishes responses to its appeals on its official website.

In recent years, the government of Tajikistan has been criticized by the UN, Western countries and international human rights organizations for regular violations of human rights in the country.

Source : Radio Free Europe

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An independent investigation revealed the secretive daughter of Tajikistan’s president has quietly built a health-care empire that benefits from government largesse, state promotion, and lobbying from her husband, an ambassador for the Central Asian nation.

Parvina Rahmonova is among the many children and other relatives of authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon who have amassed significant wealth or been appointed to senior government positions since he came to power more than three decades ago.

An independent investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has found that the little-known daughter of Tajikistan’s president, Parvina Rahmonova has built a medical empire that is generously supported by the state with finance and PR, and her husband, who is ambassador to Turkey, provides her with lobbying services.

Unlike several of Rahmon‘s other children, however, Rahmonova maintains a nearly invisible public profile. She rarely appears in publicly available family photographs and she is not mentioned by name on the website of Tajikistan’s embassy in Turkey, where her husband, Ashraf Gulov, has served as ambassador since 2021.

Behind the scenes, however, Rahmonova controls a company that in a six-year span has become a dominant force on Tajikistan’s pharmaceutical market with the help of the firm’s political connections.

Since its founding in 2017, the company, Sifat Pharma, has secured millions of dollars in government tenders while building a network of nearly 20 pharmacies in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe. And when the Tajik government bought EU-produced ventilators and medication during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rahmonova’s company served as the middleman.

Rahmonova’s business has also received fawning coverage on government-controlled television in Tajikistan, while the company’s founding ceremony was promoted by the Health Ministry.

While Rahmonova’s role as Sifat Pharma’s sole owner is not publicly acknowledged by state officials, media, or entities, the story is different behind closed doors. During business gatherings in Dushanbe, the director of a Sifat Pharma subsidiary often highlights that the firm is owned by the president’s daughter.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon (center) stands with family members in an undated photo. His fifth daughter, Sifat Pharma owner Parvina Rahmonova, stands second from the right.

Investigations further revealed:

• Sifat Pharma General-Director Sherali Kholov is among the shareholders of the International Bank of Tajikistan, which a previous investigation by RFE/RL’s Tajik Service found had links to the brother of Rahmonova’s ambassador husband;
• Another executive with a Sifat Pharma subsidiary tells competitors not to bid for government tenders in which the firm is participating, according to two entrepreneurs active in the same sector;
• Rahmon himself helped facilitate a partnership between his daughter’s company and a French pharmaceutical firm;
• A Sifat Pharma subsidiary owned by the daughter of Rahmonova has also won government contracts.

In late September 2017, at a stately, columned building not far from the Tajik presidential residence in Dushanbe, officials and guests entered through an arc of pink and white balloons to celebrate the opening of Sifat Pharma.

Speaking at the event, the country’s first deputy health minister at the time, Saida Umarzoda, said the company will have a “prominent role in providing the population with high-quality medicines” and in developing the country’s pharmaceutical sector, according to an account of the event, which was also covered by national and local news agencies, posted on the ministry’s website.

The company had already signed cooperation agreements “with the ministries of health and pharmaceutical industries of Belarus, India, and Iran in order to provide the population of Tajikistan with medicines that conform to international standards,” the Tajik Health Ministry said.

It was a heady start for a company that had been incorporated less than five months earlier.

Sifat Pharma was registered on May 2, 2017, with Rahmonova — the Tajik president’s fifth daughter — listed as the sole founder. Rahmonova remains the company’s lone shareholder to this day.

Photographs of the event do not show Rahmonova in attendance, nor did the Health Ministry mention her name, though her father-in-law, former Energy and Industries Minister Sherali Gul, did attend.

Sifat Pharma’s opening ceremony in September 2017 was promoted on the website of the Tajik Health Ministry.

Promotion on a state website is not the only help Rahmonova’s company has received from the government.

From its incorporation through August 2023, Sifat Pharma has won $5.5 million in government contracts to supply medicine to the Health Ministry and a range of state medical entities, according to state procurement records and reviews.

Two of Sifat Pharma’s subsidiaries — a medical-clothing factory called Sifat Sanoat and a medical services company called Tibbi Tojik — have won more than $326,000 in government tenders, the records show.

The total value of Rahmonova’s empire is difficult to quantify. Tajikistan does not publish records on the amount of taxes companies pay to the government, and officials’ income and asset declarations of the kind her husband would have to submit as an ambassador are not publicly available.

In 2019, the head of Tajikistan’s state Civil Service Agency said that Tajik society “is not ready” for the obligatory asset and income declarations for officials and their relatives to be made public.

“Whenever the level of society’s thinking and understanding is equal to that of Western society, we will definitely solve the problem,” the official, Juma Davlatzoda, told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service at the time.

But according to Sifat Pharma’s own website, it currently operates 18 pharmacies in Tajikistan, all but two located in Dushanbe.

Customs records showed Sifat Pharma has imported at least $3.2 million in goods — mostly medicine — since 2018, the earliest available data RFE/RL was able to find. That figure is likely considerably higher, as many of the shipment records do not indicate the value.

Rahmonova’s company has also received a helping hand from the man at the very top.

In November 2019, President Rahmon met with French entrepreneurs and investors during an official visit to France to discuss what his office described as “opportunities for the expansion of commercial and economic relations.”

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon (left, gesturing) at a meeting of the Tajik-French Business Council in Paris on November 17, 2019. As a result of the meeting, Rahmon’s daughter’s company, Sifat Pharma, signed an agreement with a French partner.

As a result of the event — at which Rahmon delivered a speech and presentation on investment opportunities in Tajikistan — Sifat Pharma was among the Tajik companies that signed cooperation agreements, partnering with the French pharmaceutical company Laboratoire Innotech.

Months later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was Rahmonova’s company that the Tajik government turned to when it acquired ventilators and medication.

In April 2020, Rahmon’s government allocated some 11 million somoni (around $1.1 million at the time) for the purchase of 27 ventilators from the German company Lowenstein Medical Technology as well as other medicine to combat COVID-19. The chosen middleman for this procurement was Sifat Pharma, according to news reports citing the Health Ministry at the time.

Lowenstein Medical Technology did not respond to e-mailed questions about the ventilators and their cost, and did not return phone messages left with the company.

By October 2021, an official Tajik investment brochure identified Sifat Pharma as one of three “key” companies in the country’s pharmaceutical sector.

Since Rahmon secured his grasp on power in Tajikistan in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, his children, as well as their spouses and in-laws, have amassed considerable wealth and political influence in the nation of some 10 million.

He has appointed three of his nine children to high-ranking government posts, most notably his eldest son, 35-year-old Rustam Emomali, who serves as chairman of the parliament’s upper chamber and the mayor of Dushanbe — and is widely seen as the president’s favored successor. In his current post in parliament he would become interim president should his father step down.

Media controlled by Rustam Emomali has also promoted his sister Rahmonova’s business interests.

The television station Dushanbe TV carried a fawning, nearly 20-minute report profiling Sifat Sanoat, which is owned by Rahmonova and is listed by Sifat Pharma as a subsidiary. The report praised Sifat Sanoat, which manufactures medical clothing such as lab coats and hospital gowns, for the quality of its production and its role as a job provider. (It is unclear exactly when the report was broadcast, but a copy was uploaded to YouTube in 2022.)

Dushanbe TV is controlled by the municipal government of Dushanbe that Emomali runs as mayor of the capital. Attempts to reach the network for comment were unsuccessful.

Rustam Emomali (left), chair of the Tajik parliament’s upper chamber and the mayor of Dushanbe, is widely seen as the favored successor to his father, President Emomali Rahmon (right).

In the report, Sifat Sanoat’s director, Hokimsho Idiev, called on other entrepreneurs to create jobs in the country. “I think that the national sense of all entrepreneurs should be awakened and they should contribute to the implementation of the policy of the president. At least in the field of creating jobs,” Idiev said.

But two businesspeople working in the same sector claimed in interviews with RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that Sifat Sanoat was pressuring competitors not to seek out state tenders. Both of the individuals, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fears of retribution, said that Idiev had told them to refrain from competing for tenders to produce medical clothing. “I wanted to bid for the contract. I called [Idiev] for advice. He told me: ‘Don’t try for this tender because it’s ours.’ After this conversation, I decided not to bid,” one of the entrepreneurs said. The director of another company also said Idiev had “asked” them “not to take part” in state tenders for medical clothing. One of these individuals said that during business gatherings in Dushanbe, Idiev often introduces Sifat Sanoat as “the company of the president’s daughter.” Idiev did not respond to a request for comment.

In the report aired by Dushanbe TV, Idiev said Sifat Sanoat “provides services for medical colleges and Dushanbe road-management agencies.” State procurement records reviewed by RFE/RL show that Sifat Sanoat has won $142,500 worth of government contracts since March 2019.

Sifat Sanoat also has received lobbying assistance from a senior government official: Rahmonova’s husband, Rahmon’s ambassador to Turkey.

In July 2022, the Tajik state news agency Khovar reported that a delegation of Turkish entrepreneurs traveled to Tajikistan “with the initiative and assistance” of Gulov, whom Rahmon appointed as his envoy to Turkey the previous year.

The visit — based on the report, at least — proved fruitful for Gulov’s well-connected wife.

As a result of the visit, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Rahmonova’s medical-clothing company Sifat Sanoat and the Turkish equipment manufacturer Dundarlar, according to the Khovar report, which included a photo featuring the Sifat Sanoat logo and showed women sewing medical clothing.

Gulov did not respond to a request for comment sent to the Tajik Embassy in Turkey.

Gulov had previously used his ambassadorship to encourage bilateral commercial ties in his wife’s line of business.

Ashraf Gulov, the Tajik ambassador to Turkey, has promoted bilateral trade in the pharmaceutical sector in which his wife’s company is a market leader in Tajikistan.

In November 2021, Gulov hosted a webinar on the “partnership of Tajik and Turkish companies in the medical and pharmaceutical industry,” according to a news release posted on the website of the Tajik Embassy in Turkey.

The news release said the discussion included “the importance of developing cooperation” in these fields, though the embassy did not post a video or transcript of the event. A screenshot showing numerous participants, however, shows that attendees included Sifat Pharma’s general director, Sherali Kholov.

Kholov’s business links extend not only to Rahmonova, but to other relatives of Gulov as well. Kholov, whom the Tajik presidential website described as a “patriotic entrepreneur” and praised for building a Dushanbe kindergarten, is the owner of the International Bank of Tajikistan, which has partnered in two companies with Gulov’s brother, Jamshed.

According to the website of the Tajik Embassy in Turkey, Gulov and his wife have five children, though the embassy does not mention Rahmonova by name or the fact that she is the Tajik president’s daughter.

Records from Tajikistan’s corporate registry show that a daughter of the couple has since joined her mother’s health-care empire, founding a company that Sifat Pharma lists as a subsidiary and which has received state contracts.

In February 2018, the company Sifat Tabobat was incorporated in Tajikistan, with its lone shareholder listed as Ramziya Gulova, one of Gulov and Rahmonova’s daughters. At the time, Gulova was a first-year university student. That company, which has since been renamed Tibbi Tojik, is among the four companies that Sifat Pharma lists as subsidiaries.

State procurement records show that Tibbi Tojik, whose corporate registration describes it as a medical-services company, has won $184,000 in state contracts since 2022.Its state clients include the central hospital in the northern Gafurov district and the state anti-epizootic center in Dushanbe.

There is little public information about Gulova. But public documents reviewed by RFE/RL indicate that she studied at the Russian-Tajik Slavonic University in Dushanbe in recent years.

A student publication at the university from April 2018 reported that Rahmonova and Ashraf Gulov had attended a campus event at which “one of the major achievements” was the selection of Gulova as one of the event’s moderators.

Sifat Pharma’s Jamshed Hamidov (left) signs an agreement with Laboratoire Innotech International on November 17, 2019, during President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to France.

Source : RFERL

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Berlin (24/10 – 67)

UN Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, visited Tajikistan from April 11 to April 21 to conduct research on issues in this field. The UN expert will assess religious freedom and its interaction with the right to freedom of expression, discuss gender equality, women’s rights, and children’s rights.

She stated that the implementation of religious freedom and belief in the country is a cause for concern. Ghanea, the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, called on Tajikistan to adapt and review its laws, policies, and practices regarding religion or belief following her 10-day visit.

Nazila Ghanea, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, called on Tajikistan to adapt and review its laws, policies, and practices regarding religion or belief. She pointed out that the boundaries of implementing freedom of religion or belief are far from international human rights standards.

During her visit, she met with government officials, representatives of religious or denominational communities, civil society organizations, and the UN. In addition to Dushanbe, she also visited Khorog and Khujand.

The Special Rapporteur’s observations will focus on promoting peaceful coexistence among religious communities and countering extremism and terrorism in Tajikistan.

Following the visit, Ghanea will present her observations at a press conference at the UN representation in Dushanbe on April 21st, with limited access approved only for journalists.

A preliminary assessment of the visit will be presented at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2024. In July 2022, the Human Rights Council appointed Dr. Nazila Ghanea from Iran as the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. She began her duties on August 1, 2022.

Ghanea is a professor of international law and has conducted research in the field of human rights, serving as a consultant to various agencies in this area.

Special Rapporteurs are part of the so-called special procedures of the Human Rights Council. They examine situations in specific countries or thematic issues worldwide. These experts operate on a mandate based on principles of impartiality and do not work as UN employees, nor do they receive compensation for their work. They are independent of any government or organization.

Tajikistan on the “Blacklist” Tajikistan is included in the U.S. Department of State’s “blacklist,” which lists countries with violations of religious freedoms. Reports state, among other things, that “persistent, continuous, and unacceptable violations of religious rights in the country” cause serious concern for the State Department.

Tajikistan disagrees with the criticism from the U.S. Department of State, with official statements consistently asserting that all religious rights are upheld in the country, and foreign assessments of the state of religious rights are “biased and inaccurate.”

The last time a UN Special Rapporteur on religious matters, Asma Jahangir, visited the country was in 2007. After her visit, she expressed concerns about the situation of religious minorities in Tajikistan and the status of Tajik women’s rights, which are violated due to traditions.

Source : Asia Plus

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