DUSHANBE, March 17, 2010, Asia-Plus — Some 500 cargo cars carrying diesel fuel, gasoline, aviation kerosene, bulldozers, excavators and other goods to Tajikistan have been stranded on Uzbek territory without explanation of any reasons for that, Andrei Tropin, deputy head of the shipping service of Tajik Railways, told Asia-Plus today.
According to him, 136 railroad cars are loaded with diesel fuel, 48 cars are loaded with aviation kerosene, 26 cars are loaded with gasoline, 12 cars are loaded with bulldozers and excavators and the remainder is laded with other goods.
“Fuels are intended for civil aviation, construction of the Roghun HPP as well as for the spring sowing campaign,” Tropin said, noting that Tajik official are currently conducting negotiations with the Uzbek side on allowing the stranded railroad cars to move into Tajikistan. “On March 16, Uzbek officials allowed 27 railroad cars carrying aviation kerosene to move into Tajikistan,” he added.
The Tajik Railways official notes that Tajik cargo trains have been frequently stranded on Uzbek territory since mid-February. “These car shipment delays have cost Tajikistan at more than 5 million U.S. dollars,” Tropin said.
It is to be noted that it is not the first case when Tajik railroad cars are stranded on Uzbek territory. We will recall that last December some 1,000 railroad cars carrying building materials and foodstuffs to Tajikistan were stranded in Uzbekistan. The goods were held at the Uzbek-Tajik border for several weeks. Besides, some 200 Tajik railroad cars with food and building materials were also stranded on Uzbek territory in September 2009.
