DUSHANBE, November 8, Asia-Plus — Although Tajikistan’s national budget is increasing year in, it is not enough to provide proper development of the country’s economy, Shodi Shabdolov, deputy of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) also chairman of the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT), said in an interview with Asia-Plus, commenting on the national budget for 2008.
According to him, the 4.476 billion somonis (equivalent to $1.3 billion) budget for 2008 does not reach even a half of Tajikistan’s budget in the Soviet time.
Shabdolov noted that to increase budgetary funds it is necessary to restructure enterprises, which are able to export their products abroad.
He, in particular, pointed to the necessity of making Tajik aluminum group TALCO (Tajik Aluminum Company), more efficient.
“Talco annually produces some $1 billion worth of output, while taxes paid by the company do not exceed $40 million,” Shabdolov said.
He added that Talco is mainly engaged in export of primary aluminum, and therefore, primarily buyers and resellers are on profit from this but not the public purse. According to him, the plant should process the primary aluminum itself that will promote increase in the company’s incomes and arrivals to the national budget.
We will recall that Sharif Rahimzoda, Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and Management of State-owned Property, told journalists on October 25 that Tajik Aluminum Company or TALCO (formerly Tajik Aluminum Plant or TadAZ) is not subject to privatization. According to him, many foreign companies are ready to invest in modernization of this enterprise. “We are ready to cooperate with any investors to modernize the company and increase its capacities but there is no any necessity for privatization of it,” Rahimzoda said, noting that TALCO accounts for 49 percent of the volume of industrial goods produced in the country.
According to Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Abdughaffor Rahmonov, TALCO has produced 312,000 tons of primary aluminum over the first nine months of the year, which is 2 percent more than it was originally planned and 3,720 tons more than in the same period of 2006.
Rahmonov said the main trading partners to Tajik aluminum were: the Netherlands – 57 percent; Turkey – 41 percent; Kazakhstan – 0.2 percent.
According to figures provided by the State Committee for Statistics, TALCO accounted for nearly 50 percent of the volume of industrial goods produced in Tajikistan in January-September 2007.
