Rail blockade reportedly affects customs receipts in Kulob

KULOB, January 25, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- In November-December 2011, Kulob customs officers collected customs duties 14.3 million somoni less because of the Khatlon rail problem, the Kulob customs service chief Jumakhon Rajabov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, this figure includes damage calculated only at two customs checkpoints – Qurbon-Shahid and Kulob.

“In all, Kulob customs officers last year transferred 29.195 million somoni into the country’s budget, which is 10 million somoni more than in 2010, Rajabov noted.

We will recall that the mid-November explosion at a rail bridge severed southern Tajikistan's rail connection to the outside world.  After a few days of silence, state-controlled Uzbek media characterized the event as a “terrorist act.”  Subsequently, outside observers began casting doubt on Tashkent’s claim, with some asserting that Uzbekistan may have sabotaged its own railway in a twisted attempt to economically punish Tajikistan.

Since the incident, the Uzbek authorities have refused Dushanbe’s offers of assistance to repair the bridge.   They likewise haven't commented on when the bridge will become operational again.

Tajik Railways notes that 298 freight cars with goods bound for the southern Tajik province of Khatlon are currently unable to leave Uzbek territory.