Speaking at a virtual briefing, Mr. Eugene Zhukov, Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ABD) Central and West Asia Regional Department, noted on September 29 that there is a high risk of reduction in remittances sent by Tajik labor migrants from Russia to Tajikistan due to the “partial mobilization” announced in Russia.
Answering the question by Asia-Plus, Mr. Zhukov noted that return of a large number of Tajik labor migrants having Russian citizenship to homeland will have negative impact on the inflow of remittances to the country.
ADB official noted that more than 1 million Tajik citizens, with approximately 200,000 of them having dual citizenship, live and work in the Russian Federation.
Despite the high cost of tickets, many of them reportedly intend to return or have already returned to Tajikistan.
“We have been told that air and train tickets have risen in price; thus, an air ticket for the Moscow-Dushanbe flight is estimated at 10,000 U.S. dollars,” Zhukov added.
Meanwhile, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) reported in its latest Regional Economic Prospects on September 28 that “the economies of Central Asia are showing strong resilience to the geopolitical adversities caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.” Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reportedly continue to receive substantial remittances from Russia, where the demand for migrant workers is growing dramatically.
According to data from the Central Bank of Russia, money transfers made to Tajikistan from Russia through payment systems last year amounted to 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, which was 3.4 percent more than in 2020.
