In a blow to Tajikistan's anemic economy, consumers in Russia will no longer be able to enjoy one of the country's chief exports: pistachios, walnuts, apricots, and other dried fruits and nuts.
Considering active trade relations, there is a risk of importing “wild” poliovirus to the territory of our country through contaminated food products. Considering that, a particular danger is represented by dried fruits and nuts, used directly in food without processing.
The ban "applies not only to firms and companies that import Tajik dried fruits into Russia, but also to individual who carry the goods in their baggage and hand luggage," Ferghana.ru reports, noting the importance of the income to Tajik farmers.
Russian customs officials at land crossings and airports have been instructed to prevent import of the products.
Polio is transmitted via oral contact with stools and saliva.
With Russia asserting itself through the region in the wake of Kyrgyzstan's April uprising, I wonder if there is a more strategic motive than public health.
Southwestern Tajikistan is registering the first cases of clinically confirmed polio since 1997 and the first cases in the European/Central Asian region since the area was declared polio-free in 2002.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed 120 cases of acute flaccid paralysis in Tajikistan, seven of which were confirmed to be caused by poliovirus type 1. Ten children have died.
Initial reporting suggests that over 45 percent of the children stricken by the paralysis had polio vaccines, said the WHO in a statement.
WHO is communicating with countries in the Region about the outbreak. It is important that neighboring countries strengthen surveillance for cases of acute flaccid paralysis, in order to rapidly detect any new poliovirus importations and facilitate a rapid response. Countries should also analyze routine immunization coverage data to identify any sub-national gaps in population immunity to guide catch-up immunization activities and thereby minimize the consequences of any new virus introduction.
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WHO does not recommend the imposition of restrictions to the international movement of persons as a control measure at this time.
Polio is considered endemic in Afghanistan, Tajikistan's southern neighbor.
Tajikistan's economy is growing again, but it is still hugely dependent on remittances, RIA Novosti reports.
The economy of Tajikistan grew 6.8% in the first three months of 2010 to over $890 million, with money transfers from abroad constituting one-third, Tajikistan's National Bank said on Monday.
Money transfers increased 5.6% in January-March 2010 from the same period last year, following improvements in the world economic situation and on migrant labor markets.
Some estimates say up to 50 percent of Tajikistan's workforce seeks employment abroad. Most are in Russia, giving Moscow leverage over Dushanbe.
Tajik authorities have begun selling vanity license plates - or admitting they are - to raise money for the country's Rogun hydropower project, Ferghana.ru reports.
The first auction in Tajikistan, selling "cool" license plates for cars, set the record: according to State Traffic Patrol Department Interior Ministry of Tajikistan, "0100" was sold for 40 000 somoni or $9100 ($1=4.36 somoni). "0707" was sold for 6500 somoni, while "0202" and "0808" were sold for 3600 somoni each.
Numbers are important in Tajikistan, where the right one can earn you a salute - rather than a phony infraction - from the country's covetous traffic cops.
Interesting this defense of nepotism should come as Central Asian leaders are on edge following the unrest in Bishkek, which was caused in large part by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's relentless nepotism and corruption.
The head of the Strategic Research Center under the Tajik President, Suhrob Sharipov, said President Emomali Rahmon has the right to appoint relatives to senior posts if they have the qualifications, Asia-Plus reported on April 15.
"Family links have always been used and will be used in Tajikistan. We have such a mentality that relatives try to be close to each other. Family links will always be used in our country by everyone no matter who is in power."
Sharipov said the reason nepotism isn't so prevalent in western democracies is because of "demographic problems," as Asia-Plus put it, and because families often live scattered apart.
He does get one thing right, which should give President Rahmon some pause:
"When Askar Akayev was Kyrgyz president, he was accused of appointing his relatives to high state posts and was ousted because of this. Today Kyrgyzstan's opposition is accusing Kurmanbek Bakiyev of giving high posts to his relatives, but Bakiyev's supporters made similar accusations against Askar Akayev in 2005. Now, heads of the Kyrgyz interim government have also started giving high state posts to their relatives and friends."
Several children of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon occupy high-level posts. His 23-year-old son Rustam Emomali is lately enjoying a meteoric rise in politics and is widely considered a possible successor.
Has Russia given up on its desire to have a CSTO base in Osh? That's what this Russia Today story suggests:
Moscow has reportedly dropped the idea of deploying an additional military contingent on the territory of Kyrgyzstan despite the earlier agreement between presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev...
... five months after the initially planned date, no agreement between Moscow and Bishkek has been signed. It is not clear whether the base will be created or not.
RT offers few details, however. In a similar vein, an intriguing but vague mention of the Ayni base in Tajikistan at the very end of this Vancouver Sun piece:
Moscow, though, is none too happy about New Delhi playing its strategic “Great Game” in Russia’s backyard. Russia has persuaded the Dushanbe government of Emomali Rahmon that operational control of the Ayni airbase should rotate, and that it should share that responsibility with India.
Al Jazeera English has a report from a post on the Tajikistan border with Afghanistan, which claims that the Taliban are moving north and, according to the governor of Kunduz province, "from here, they can operate in Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan and Chechnya":
There are a lot of questionable things about this report. Why would Taliban be shooting at Tajik border guards? And who would seriously believe that a base in northern Afghanistan gives them any sort of proximity to Chechnya? And, most importantly, in whose interest is it to put this kind of information out there? Thoughts?
