Business & Economics:
UZBEKISTAN: TASHKENT TELLS DUSHANBE TO COUGH UP MORE TRANSIT FEES
1/06/09

Uzbekistan's penchant for charging transit fees on anything that moves in or out of Tajikistan has been extended to trucks and buses.

By decree of the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers, all Tajik vehicles are to pay a flat $50 fee upon entering Uzbekistan. By comparison, "special tariffs" were arranged for Turkmen traffic. A Turkmen truck carrying a load of up to 10 tons or bus carrying 12 passengers or less will be charged $20, trucks carrying more 10 tons or buses with more than 12 passengers will pay $30, CA-news.org reported January 6.

Since the Soviet collapse in 1991, bilateral relations between Tashkent and Dushanbe have been marked mainly by rancor. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].