DUSHANBE, February 25, 2013, Asia-Plus — The board (Shuro) of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament consider a draft law on pawnshops at a February 25 meeting, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, Muhammadato Sultonov, a spokesman for the Majlisi Namoyandagon said.
The law has been drafted by a group of deputies of the Majlisi Namoyandagon and more than 120 amendments have been proposed to the bill during discussion of it in the Majlisi Namoyandagon committees and commissions.
Dozens of pawnshops now function across Tajikistan, but their activities are not regulated by the country’s legislation. Tajik parliamentarians have reportedly studied experiences of Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Belarus while drafting the law on pawnshops.
A pawnshop offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. If an item is pawned for a loan, within a certain contractual period of time the pawner may redeem it for the amount of the loan plus some agreed-upon amount for interest. The amount of time, and rate of interest, is governed by law or by the pawnshop”s policies. If the loan is not paid (or extended, if applicable) within the time period, the pawned item will be offered for sale by the pawnshop.
The board also considered the bills requiring amendments to the country’s laws on mortgage and combating terrorism, Sultonov said.
Some of these issues will be considered at the next sitting of the Majlisi Namoyandagon that will take place in Dushanbe on February 27.
