KULOB, August 18, 2008, Asia-Plus — Over the first seven months of this year, rail shipments from Kulob have amounted to little more than 1,000 tons, while rail imports into Kulob over the same period have amounted to nearly 35,000 tons, Komil Halimov, head of the Kulob railway station, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the Kulob enterprise Kulob Textiles accounts for major share of the Kulob rail exports, exporting cotton fiber through the Kulob railway station.
Rail imports into Kulob over the same seven-month period have included wheat flour, fuels and lubricants, as well as coals.
The Kulob railway station head further added that with temporary permission for Tajik nationals to use internal Tajikistan’s passports to travel to Russia by planes, the number of passengers on the rail route Kulob-Moscow had considerably reduced. “In January-July 2008, only 3,000 residents of the Kulob region have traveled to Moscow by rail, which is 5,000 people fewer than in the same period of last year,” Halimov said.
