Month: February 2023

Damage caused by natural disasters to Tajikistan in 2021 was estimated 141,984,500 somonis.

Meanwhile, the number of natural disasters reported in the country last year by 338 cases more compared to 2021.

“This is due to the fact that the number of large-scale emergency situations last year was fewer,” Ibrohimzoda noted.

According to him, 697 emergency situations were registered in the country last year, 538 cases more than in 2021 (359 emergency situations were registered in Tajikistan in 2021).

The senior emergency management official said that eight people were killed by natural disasters in Tajikistan last year, same as in 2021.

Source: Asia-Plus

Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, reported on February 6 that the 39-year-old Marsad Qurbonov was naïve of Roudaki district. He was killed in battle near the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Maqsad Qurbonov was reportedly serving his jail term in a penal colony in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk.

His father, Faizullo Qurbonov, told Radio Ozodi that they were informed of his death on the evening of February 4. According to him, Maqsad left four children.

It is to be noted that Maqsad Qurbonov is not the first Russian pardoned Tajik prisoner killed in Ukraine.

Another Tajik national – the 27-year-old Zulfiqor Muhiddinov – who was pardoned to join the military operation in exchange for an amnesty was reportedly killed in a battle near Bakhmut recently.

Besides, the 47-year-old Bulbul Davlatshoyev, naïve of Dousti (formerly Jilikul) district in Khatlon province, was killed in Ukraine. One for Davlatshoyev’s relatives told Radio Ozodi in January that according to information from the Russian side, Bulbul Davlatshoyev joined the war in Ukraine on October 19, 2022. Bulbul’s brother, Eraj Davlatshoyev told Radio Ozodi that the Russian authorities “named the official cause of his death as a bullet wound to the chest and heavy bleeding.”

Bulbul’s relatives do not understand under what conditions he was sent to the war in Ukraine.

Most likely, Bulbul Davlatshoyev also joined the war in Ukraine in exchange for an amnesty.

Some media reports say Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has recruited prisoners to fight in Ukraine.

The BBC reported in September last year that the head of Russia's shadowy Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, has appeared in leaked footage attempting to recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine. Mr. Prigozhin reportedly told prisoners their sentences would be commuted in exchange for service with his group.

While Russian law does not allow commutation of prison sentences in exchange for mercenary service, Mr. Prigozhin insisted that "nobody goes back behind bars" if they serve with his group, according to the BBC.

Tajikistan’s legislation stipulates that the participation of a mercenary in armed conflicts or battle operations is punishable by imprisonment for a period of 12 to 20 years.

There is still no accurate information about Russia pardoned Tajik prisoners citizens killed in the war in Ukraine.

Radio Ozodi says they are aware of the deaths of at least six Russian pardoned Tajik prisoners in Ukraine. The Tajik authorities do not comment on reports of the death of Tajik nationals in Ukraine.

Source: Asia-Plus

Besides, Tajikistan is ready to send 50 rescuers to the earthquake-hit regions of Turkiye.

The humanitarian aid will be send together with the rescue team. The exact sending date has not been announced.

Meanwhile, rescue teams of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan already flew to Turkiye Tuesday morning.

Uzbek media reports say Uzbekistan will send 60 rescuers and three special emergency vehicles to Turkiye.

A meeting with participation of the Emergencies Committee chief Rustam Nazarzoda took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday morning to discuss issues related to sending Tajik rescuers to Turkiye.

Media reports say Turkiye’s Vice-President, Fuat Oktay, said Tuesday morning that 3,419 people had been killed in the quake, with another 20,534 had been injured. The number of confirmed deaths on the Syrian side of the border reportedly rose to 1,602, bringing the death toll in both countries to 5,021.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Turkiye’s disaster management agency said it had 11,342 reports of collapsed buildings, of which 5,775 had been confirmed.

Dozens of powerful aftershocks reportedly continued to jolt southern Turkiye and northern Syria on Tuesday, a day after an earthquake struck the region killing more than 5,000 people and destroying thousands of buildings, as difficult conditions, freezing temperatures and damaged roads hampered rescue efforts.

As the scale of the devastation from the 7.8 magnitude tremor continued to unfold, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the number of casualties could exceed 20,000.

Source: Asia-Plus

1. The OJSC “Pamir Energy Company” has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Tajikistan Rural Electrification Project and intends to apply part of the proceeds toward payments under the contract for Supply of Goods for construction of 27 km 35kV Transmission Line from Surkhsangov to Tekharv in Vanj District in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), Tajikistan.

2. The OJSC “Pamir Energy Company” now invites sealed Bids from eligible Bidders for Supply of equipment and materials for construction of 27km of 35kV from Surkhsangov to Tekharv village transmission line in Vanj District, GBAO, Tajikistan.

3. Bidding will be conducted through international competitive procurement using a Request for Bids (RFB) as specified in the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016, revised November 2017, August 2018 and November 2020 (“Procurement Regulations”) (“Procurement Regulations”), and is open to all eligible Bidders as defined in the Procurement Regulations, which meet the following minimum qualification criteria:

4. Interested eligible Bidders may obtain further information and inspect the bidding document at the address given below during office hours 08:00 – 17:00 (Dushanbe time) from Monday to Friday:

Attention: Mr. Amrikhon Raimov, General Director

Address: 75 Gulmahmadov Street

City: Khorog, GBAO

ZIP Code: 736100

Country: Tajikistan

Telephone: +992 3522 2 33 83

Electronic mail address:

To: amrikhon.rahimov@pamirenergy.com

Cc: ofarid.amidkhonov@pamirenergy.com

Cc: ubaid.khujanazarov@pamirenergy.com

Cc: nazira.khaydarova@pamirenergy.com

A complete set of bidding documents will be sent by electronic email in PDF format to all interested Bidders on submission of a written request for bids to the addresses above.”

5. Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 14:00 Dushanbe time on March 29, 2023 in English language. Bidding shall have the option of submitting their bids electronically (scanned copies) to the following email address: Procurement.scispm@gmail.com with copy to the Purchaser’s e-mail address at ofarid.amidkhonov@pamirenergy.com . Late Bids will be rejected. Bids will be publicly opened in the presence of the Bidders’ designated representatives and anyone who chooses to attend at the address shown below in section 7 at or before 14:00 Dushanbe time on March 29, 2023.

6. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security. The amount of Bid Security required is

$ 13,000 (thirteen thousand USD).

7. The address referred to above is:

State Committee on Investment and State Property Management of the Republic of Tajikistan,

Source: Asia-Plus

“A Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan is not yet planned,” Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan, Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov told TASS on February 3 replying to a question on the matter.

According to him, a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan will take place in Uzbekistan in March and special envoys will meet on the eve of this meeting.

“Uzbekistan wants to host a ministerial meeting of countries neighboring Afghanistan plus Russia in March. But there are no dates yet. The special envoys [for Afghanistan] will meet on the eve of this meeting,” Kabulov said.

Russia hosted the Moscow Forum meeting on Afghanistan twice over the past year and a half. The participants mainly stressed the formation of inclusive government, national dialogue and the ensuring of human rights.

Recall, a fourth round of multilateral consultations on Afghanistan between top security officials was held in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, on May 27, 2022.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews reported on February 5 that Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid called on Moscow to invite a representative of the Afghanistan’s caretaker government.

“The Islamic Emirate has not yet been invited but those meetings that discuss Afghanistan, Afghanistan should be included to defend its position and discuss the issues,” he was quoted as saying.

The Islamic Emirate reportedly said that the participants are expected to discuss the recognition of Afghanistan.

Source: Asia-Plus

“We are currently looking into whether there are Tajiks among the victims of the earthquake,” the source said.

Media reports say a powerful earthquake struck the south-eastern part of Turkiye, near the Syrian border, at 4:17 am local time (1:17 GMT), killing more than 500 people as they slept. Nearly 3,000 others were injured.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at a depth of 17.9 kilometers near the city of Gaziantep.

According to the BBC, Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said the death toll in Turkiye had now risen to 284 people.

In Syria, more than 230 people were killed, state media was cited as saying. The Syrian health ministry reportedly said people had died in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus.

There are fears the number of deaths will rise sharply in the coming hours.

Many buildings have collapsed and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors under huge piles of rubble.

CNN says Monday’s quake is believed to be the strongest to hit Turkey since 1939, when an earthquake of the same magnitude killed 30,000 people, according to the USGS. Earthquakes of this magnitude are rare, with fewer than five occurring each year on average, anywhere in the world. Seven quakes with magnitude 7.0 or greater have struck Turkey in the past 25 years – but Monday’s is the most powerful.

Source: Asia-Plus

Last year, Amonatbonk reportedly channeled l85 million somonis to the country’s budget in a form of taxes and other mandatory payments.

The bank’s deposit portfolio rose 52 percent in a year to December 31 last year, reaching about 5 billion somonis.

Residential customer deposits have reportedly amounted to 2 billion somonis.

In 2022, Amonatbonk provided a total of about .5 billion somonis in loans to 46,000 customers, which 2.4 percent more than in 2021.

Last year, Tajikistan’s savings bank also provided a total of 10.7 million somonis in mortgage loans to 51 residential customers.

As of January 1, 2023, Amonatbonk’s loan portfolio reportedly amounted to 1.7 billion somonis.

Amonatbonk reportedly provides loans in the national currency, the somoni, at the annual interest rate fluctuating from 18 percent to 24 percent and loan in the foreign currency at the annual interest rate fluctuating from 4.5 percent to 10 percent.

Last year, customers of Tajikistan’s savings bank could get loans in the amount from 3,000 to 500,000 somonis both in the national and foreign currencies for the period from six to thirty-six months.

Amonatbonk is the only state-owned bank. Established in 1925, it is one of the oldest banks in Tajikistan and one of the largest based upon various criteria - including the number of branches and the number of served clients.

The institution is unique in its orientation towards implementing social, pension and other state programs. Amonatbonk has 5 regional centers, 69 branches and more than 500 agencies. This gives the institution a presence in the most remote mountainous parts of the country.

Source: Asia-Plus

Citing unnamed officials from a country aligned with the Unite States, the WSJ reported on February 5 that a high-level Iranian delegation flew to Russia in early January to visit the planned site for the factory and hammer out details to get the project up-and-running.

Iran and Russia are reportedly aiming to build a faster drone that could pose new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses.

According to the WSJ, the factory that is expected to be built in Yelabuga, Russia’s Tatarstan Republic is aimed at producing some 6,000 Iran-designed drones of the type Moscow has reportedly used in the Ukraine war.

According to official Kyiv, Iran has supplied Russia with hundreds of its drones, including the kamikaze Shahed-136 models. Russia has reportedly been using these drones along with missiles to strike at critical infrastructure across Ukraine.

Source: Asia-Plus