Russian investments in Tajikistan are declining, Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan, Igor Lyakin-Frolov, told reporters in Dushanbe on December 27.
According to him, one of the main reasons for that are high tax rates, especially in the telecommunications sphere.
“A statement made by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon during an address to a joint meeting of both houses of Tajik parliament gives hopes to us. Emomali Rahmon ordered relevant ministries and agencies to work over the issue of improvement of investment climate in the country,” the Russian ambassador said.
At the same time, Ambassador Igor Lyakin-Frolov noted that the issue of payment for electricity generated by the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) has not yet been solved. Barqi Tojik (Tajikistan’s national integrated power company) now owes 80 million U.S. dollars to OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1, he said.
According to him, a volume of direct investments this year has amounted to 80 million U.S dollars and a total volume of investments has amounted to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
A two-way trade between Russia and Tajikistan has also decreased this year. In 2014, it was 1.25 billion U.S. dollars, and this year, it was little more than 1 billion U.S. dollars.
The Russian ambassador also noted that 16,000 Tajik students were currently studying in Russia. Besides, more than 6,000 students are studying at the Russian-Tajik Slavic University in Dushanbe and branches of Russian universities functioning in Tajikistan, Lyakin-Frolov noted.
Meanwhile, some media outlets report that Russia wants to boost air force presence in Tajikistan. The Russian ambassador reportedly said on Tuesday that Russia wants to expand its air force deployment to Tajikistan and is in talks with Dushanbe for joint use of the Ayni airfield and to expand its presence there.
Russia already has a military base in Tajikistan with up to 7,000 troops stationed in Dushanbe and Qurghon Teppa and last year deployed four attack and transport helicopters to the Ayni air base.
Reuters reports Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, is seen by Russia and the West as a possible conduit for Islamist militants. The Ferghana Valley, a fertile and densely populated strip of land that straddles Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, is reportedly considered to be the heart of Islamist militancy in Central Asia, whose main target is Russia.
