DUSHANBE, January 16, 2012, Asia-Plus — Eleven of twelve customs checkpoints on the Tajik-Uzbek border in the northern Sughd province are still closed for vehicles, Nemat Rahmatov, the first deputy head of the Customs Service under the Government of Tajikistan, told reporters in Dushanbe on January 16.
“In all, sixteen customs checkpoints must function along the Tajik-Uzbek border under the government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,” Rahmatov said.
According to him, the Uzbek side says that repair works are being carried out at three customs checkpoints, while the reasons for the closure of the remaining eight customs checkpoints are unknown.
We will recall that an official source at the Sughd customs directorate told Asia-Plus on Saturday (January 14) that of 12 customs checkpoints on the Tajik-Uzbek border in northern Tajikistan only one, the Fotehobod customs checkpoints, is currently working in its usual regime. The remaining eleven customs checkpoints have been temporarily closed for vehicles on initiative of the Uzbek authorities. “The Uzbek side has not informed us for what reason the customs checkpoints have been closed and when they open them,” the source said.
