DUSHANBE


, January 4,

Asia

-Plus – Letter by leader of


Tajikistan


’s Islamic Revival Party (IRPT), Said Abdullo Nuri, in response to statement of Dushanbe Vodokanal (DVK –


Dushanbe


water supply system) has not satisfied the DVK leadership, according to information from the DVK press service.  

Akobir Ashurov, a spokesman for the DVK, has told Asia-Plus that on December 31, they received e-mail from Mr. Nuri, in which he notes that he has been misunderstood.  The letter runs that when he was saying about corruption in the area of the


Dushanbe


water supply system he did not mean the DVK concretely, according to Ashurov. 

            As it had been reported earlier, the DVK head, Behruz Safarov, on December 29 told journalists in


Dushanbe


that they intended to file suit against the IRPT leader for libel.  According to him, he is going to do this after Said Abdullo Nuri’s interview with the newspaper “Millat” (#17,

December 22, 2005

) allegedly defamed the DVK administration.  “In this interview, the IRPT leader veiledly accuses the DVK administration of corruption,” Safarov said, adding that Nuri did not produce any evidence to support his accusations.

Ashurov says that in his letter, Nuri did not apologize to the DVK leadership.  “Now our director will apply to court to prove his case,” he said, adding that it will happen in near future.  

In the meantime, when Asia-Plus has applied for comments to the IRPT representatives, they just said that they have already been informed of the DVK leadership’s intention to file suit against their leader.  However, they refrained from giving any comments pleading absence of the party’s spokesman.  

DUSHANBE, January 4, Asia-Plus Tajikistan is going to raise the rate of fixed-line telephone communication.

Yesterday evening, Deputy Tajik Minister of Communications, Ibrohim Usmonov, told Asia-Plus that as of February 1, the rate of fixed-line telephone communications would increase four times and be 0.004 Somonis per minute, compared to 0.001 Somonis last year.  As it had been reported earlier, Tajik Minister of Communications, Said Zuvaydov, speaking to journalists in Dushanbe on October 17 noted that the increase in the rate of the fixed telephone communication was connected with increasing technical expenses in this area and the present payments of the fixed-line telephone communication do not cover these expenses.  The other reason for increasing the fixed-line telephone communication rate is the necessity of paying off the loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), according to Mr. Zuvaydov.

            In the meantime, the source in the Tajik Anti-Monopoly Committee today morning told Asia-Plus that taking into account low solvency of the population and other calculations it was decided to raise the rate of fixed-line telephone communication from 0.001 Somonis to 0.002 Somonis per minute.  The subscription fee will remain the same – 1.30 Somonis per month. 

DUSHANBE


, January 4, Asia-Plus –


Uzbekistan


has raised the price it charges


Tajikistan


for gas.

Tajikistan


imports 95 percent of its gas from


Uzbekistan


and with regard to this “Tojikgaz” (Tajik state-run gas concern) has raised gas supplies rate and is charging the population 250 Somonis, including value added tax (VAT) of 12.34 Somonis, per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas as of January1, compared to 207.67 Somonis last year.

“The gas supplies rate has been raised following a resolution passed by the Tajik Anti-Monopoly Committee on December 30, 2005,” Fayoziddin Sodirov, a spokesman for “Tojikgaz”, has told Asia-Plus.  He has noted that the population who do not have gas meters will pay for gas 6.25 Somonis, including VAT of 0.31 Somonis, per month (for each person living in apartment), compared to 5.19 Somonis last year. 

As it had been reported earlier,


Uzbekistan


announced in late October 2005 it planned to raise the price for its natural gas to all buyers, which also include


Kyrgyzstan


and


Kazakhstan


. 


Uzbekistan


justified the decision as based on world market trends and increased extraction and transportation costs.

DUSHANBE, January 4, Asia-Plus – “Carrying out of reforms in agrarian sector has provided appreciable growth in gross agricultural product from all categories of farms in the republic,” Tajik economists Inom Asrorov and Mahmadsharif Nozimov noted in their article entitled “Main Directions of Extending of Economic Reforms in Tajikistan” that was published in the first issue of the monthly “Eaqtisod and Hayot”.  

The researchers noted that over the past six years (1999-2004) gross agricultural product from all categories of farms has increased by 74.3 percent including farms belonging to the population – by 90.5 percent, dehqan (peasant) farms – 5.5 times, while in traditional agricultural enterprises the agricultural product reduced by 4.1 percent.    

They stress that increase in share from personal subsidiary farms belonging to the population in the overall gross agricultural product has been provided due to president’s edict on allocation firstly of 50,000 hectares of lands and then of further 25,000 hectares of lands for expansion of farms belonging to the population.  

In the article, Asrorov and Nozimov note that one of the most important instruments for regulating revenues in



Tajikistan


is maintenance of socially acceptable rate of minimal wage.  

According to them, the government should prevent unjustified growth in differentiation of wages in various sectors of the country’s economy.  “In 2004, compared to an average monthly wage nominally fixed at 61.81 Somonis, the same index in industrial was 2.4 times as big, in transportation sector – 2.3 times as big, communications – 2.6 times as big, and so forth,” says the article, “At the same time, there are sectors, where this index is much fewer compared to an average monthly nominally fixed wage; thus in agrarian sector, this index is fewer by 42.5 percent, healthcare and social security – by 61.6 percent.”

DUSHANBE, January 4, Asia-Plus — An official opening of office of Afghanistan’s Migration Service in Dushanbe was held on December 30.  

The ceremony was attended by Afghan Ambassador to Tajikistan Said Muhammad Khairkhoh, senior representatives from other diplomatic missions accredited in Tajikistan and the Tajik government.  

According to the source, the main objective of the representative office of Afghanistan’s Migration Service in Dushanbe will be in providing legal advice and  

According to data provided by the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe, at present more than 2,000 Afghan families are living in Tajikistan.  

KHUJAND, January 4, Asia-Plus – Border troops stationed in northern province of Sughd warded off an attempt of unauthorized export of gasoline from the region to Kyrgyzstan in late December.

Deputy chief of the Operational Group “Sughd” of Tajikistan’s Border Protection Committee (BPC), Odinamahmad Malikov, has told Asia-Plus that their troops detained in Isfara District heavy truck “KAMAZ” loaded with almost 11 tons of 76-octane gasoline belonging to Kyrgyz citizen Toshpulot Chokoltayev. 

“It turned out that the driver does not have proper documents for the fuel,” said Malikov,  “The vehicle was arrested and the appropriate materials were sent to the Isfara customs service.”   

At present, the price of one liter of 95-octane gasoline in Khujand is 2.40 Somonis.  

DUSHANBE, January 4, Asia-Plus – An article by Tajik economists Inom Asrorov and Mahmadsharif Nozimov entitled “Main Directions of Extending of Economic Reforms in Tajikistan” published in the first issue of the monthly “Eaqtisod and Hayot”, official paper of Tajikistan’s Party of Economic Reforms, notes that reform should facilitate structural reorganization of economy, objectives and goals of which are determined by long-term interests of state and selection of those or these priorities of actions.  

Describing concrete branches of economy, on which, according to the researchers, the main attention should be focused, they propose to considerably raise a role of processing industry and the construction sector. 

“If in 1991, industry accounted for 25.3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and construction accounted for 10.4 percent respectively, last year these indices reduced to 16 percent and 7.3 percent respectively,” the authors say, noting that a certain “deindustrialization” took place in the republic. 

The main objective of the reform is not only in rehabilitation of these branches but also in raising share of them in the structure of Tajikistan’s economy, the researchers stressed.