DUSHANBE, January 16, Asia-Plus – Vladimir Sobkalov, the deputy head of Tajik Railways, told journalists in Dushanbe on January 16 that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are considering the possibility of reopening of rail and air routes.
According to him, the Tajik railways has already repaid its debt to Uzbekistan’s Temir Yullari (Railways) and it now owes 330,000 Swiss francs to Turkmenistan and 770,000 Swiss francs to Kazakhstan. “In the meantime, our Kyrgyz colleagues owe more than 130,000 Swiss francs to us,” Sobkalov said, adding that a total debt of the Tajik Railways is 317 million somonis (equivalent to more than $92.3 million).
Sobkalov noted that the Tajik railways last year worked stable and profitably.
The railway official noted that in 2006, some 14 million tons of cargo were shipped by the railway, which is 15.1% or 1.8 million toms more than in the previous year of 2005. Last year, the Tajik Railways shipped 168,700 tons of farm produce to the republic, while the volume of farm produce shipped from Tajikistan to other countries amounted to 150,413 tons, according to Sobkalov.
In 2006, the Tajik Railways carried 774,800 passengers, 66,900 more than in 2005. The company made 50.138 million somonis from carrying passengers, which is 23 million somonis more than in 2005.
At present Tajik Railways offers three routes to the Russian Federation (Dushanbe-Moscow, Kulob-Moscow, Khujand-Saratov) and four domestic routes (Dushanbe-Konibodom, Qurghon Teppa-Konibodom, Dushanbe-Pakhtaobod and Qurghon Teppa-Kulob).
“A cargo-car depot in Sarband (Khatlon) and railway station Mahram in Konibodom (Sughd) had been put into operation by September last year,” Sobkalov said, adding that 81-apartment residential building was also constructed last year.
Last year, the company transferred to the country’s budget 678 million somonis in taxes, which is 12.902 million somonis more than in 2005.
According to Sobkalov, 326 new jobs were created last year. Compared to 2005 an average wage in the company increased by 20 percent and amounted 298 somonis in 2006.
The total length of rails in Tajikistan is 950 kilometers; of that, 680 kilometers are the main railways. At present there are 31 railway stations in the republic.
