DUSHANBE, September 30, Asia-Plus — Residents of settlements located along the toll road, Dushanbe-Chanak, must be exempted from paying levies, Buri Karimov, the head of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Council of Road Administration of the CIS Nations, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, levies should be collected only from transit vehicles, while local population should use the road free of charge.
“There are no alternative roads in Tajikistan, and therefore, it is not allowed to collect toll for using roads,” said Karimov, “Tajik authorities has the right to collect toll only for using the Istiqlol Tunnel because there is an alternative road there. Meanwhile, they decided to make the whole highway a toll road and doubtful company was permitted to operate the toll.”
He considers that the government and the Innovative Road Solutions (IRS) company, which operates the toll road, must eliminate the levies for residents of settlements located along the highway or to provide any benefits or subsidies to them. “Otherwise, social and economic situation in that region will deteriorate,” Karimov said.
He added that the firm that was authorized to collect the toll should not be exempted from paying 17 types of taxes.
We will recall that the Dushanbe-Chanak highway was upgraded by Chinese companies and paid for with a $280 million loan from China. The Tajik government announced that in order to repay the loan the highway would become a toll road ad a toll would be collected for using the highway starting on April 1. IRS that operates the tool road is exempted from paying 17 types of taxes.
