DUSHANBE, July 17, 2012, Asia-Plus – Russian media outlets on July 17 quoted Russia”s ground forces commander Vladimir Chirkin as saying that the Tajik authorities have approved Russian terms for an agreement on a lease extension for a Russian military base in Tajikistan after 2014.
“The Tajik side considers the draft agreement between Russia and Tajikistan, strengthening the 201st military base”s presence there for another 49 years, as acceptable. The republic”s leadership intends to bring about a joint agreement quickly,” Chirkin was quoted as saying.
According to RIA Novosti, he added that the draft agreement maintained the existing terms for the base”s tenure in Tajikistan on a non-paying basis.
There was no official reaction from the Tajikistan side early on Tuesday.
Talks between the two sides had recently become difficult, with Tajikistan demanding at least $250 million a year for the rent of the base, Kommersant business daily reported earlier this month, citing an unnamed Tajik source.
We will recall that Tajik Foreign Minister told reporters in Dushanbe on July 18, 2011 that Tajik territory cannot be used by a foreign military free of charge. Some Russian media sources reported last year that Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi suggested that Russia should pay 300 million annually and they deemed this suggestion “unrealistic.”
Meanwhile, in a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Sayfullo Safarov, deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan, on July 12 denied report about a $300 million demand for rent as baseless. “Tajik officials, including the foreign minister of the country, have repeatedly denied such speculations,” he noted.
Under the current 10-year lease signed in 2004, Russia gets exclusive use of three military bases and joint use of an air base free of charge. During their talks in Dushanbe on September 2, 2011, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed to sign a formal agreement extending the presence of Russia”s 201st Division in Tajikistan for another 49 years.
The presence of Russian troops in Tajikistan reportedly accounts for Russia”s second-largest military contingent outside its own territory — following only the 13,000-strong Black Sea Fleet in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol.
