VAKHDAT: IN THE SHADOW OF THE CAPITAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001092

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAID TI
SUBJECT: VAKHDAT: IN THE SHADOW OF THE CAPITAL


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1. Summary: During a July 20 visit to Vakhdat city, just
twenty kilometers outside Dushanbe, the mayor and first deputy
chairman underscored their district's need for macro-level
economic assistance, while representatives of the Islamic
Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) revealed a greater
concern with improving the everyday lives of the city's
residents on a micro level. The director of the "Pakhta" cotton
processing factory surprised PolOff by explaining that the
relationship between cotton producers and purchasers in Vakhdat
differs from that in other parts of Tajikistan, allowing cotton
farmers in the Vakhdat District to operate nearly debt-free.
End Summary.


2. Located on a plain east of the capital leading to the
opposition strongholds of Garm and Romit, Vakhdat was the scene
of intense fighting during Tajikistan's 1992-1997 civil war,
leaving its economy and infrastructure in shambles. The effort
to rebuild is still ongoing, and PolOff heard a number of
proposals for assistance and investment opportunities from Mayor
Anvar Kodirov and First Deputy Chairman Qiyomiddin Abdullaev.
According to these officials, the areas most in need of
financing are mini hydro-electric station construction, school
and hospital restoration, and the development of tourism. With
regard to hydro-electric power, Kodirov emphasized that even
with completion of the 600 megawatt and 220 megawatt Sangtuda I
and II power stations currently under construction, the region's
electricity problems will not be solved and mini-hydro stations
would be better suited to serve smaller communities. Turning to
politics, Abdullaev asserted that there are four political
parties active in Vakhdat in addition to the ruling People's
Democratic Party of Tajikistan, and that all are welcome to
participate in the political process -- a claim strongly refuted
during PolOff's meeting with local Islamic Renaissance Party
representatives.


3. Islamic Renaissance Party Acting District Chairman Mirzo
Omar warmly welcomed PolOff to his party's Vakhdat headquarters,
consisting of a converted residential apartment unit. Omar
apologized for the cramped surroundings, but explained that
efforts to secure government permission to move into more
permanent offices had failed. Omar said that in general, the
Vakhdat government's policy towards the Islamic Renaissance
Party was simply to ignore the party to the extent possible.
For example, Omar said that his party's activities received no
attention in the press, and that even the postal service
hindered efforts to promote the Islamic Renaissance Party's
platform through the party's own newspaper and journal by
refusing to deliver the publications. With regard to Vakhdat's
economy, Omar was less concerned with large infrastructure
projects, and more concerned with the effects of inflation on
the local population -- especially the rising prices of coal and
gas. Omar also noted that Dushanbe's bustling economy had been
of no benefit in Vakhdat and may in fact be contributing to
inflation.


4. Imomali Azimov, director of the Pakhta cotton processing
factory, noted that Pakhta is the only such cotton facility in
Vakhdat, employing 270 workers and with a capacity to process up
to 45,000 tons per year. However, Pakhta could not secure
sufficient raw cotton last year, and as a result processed only
11,000 tons during 3 months of operations in 2006. According to
Azimov, this situation has led Pakhta to offer favorable
financing to Vakhdat cotton producers: Pakhta provided farmers
with 0% interest cash loans during planting season to purchase
seed, fuel and fertilizer, rather than the high-interest in-kind
loans found elsewhere in Tajikistan. However, local embassy
staff offered an alternate explanation for the factory's
favorable treatment of farmers: former United Tajik Opposition
leader Akbar Turajonzoda has close ties to the region, and owns
both Pakhta and a majority of Vakhdat's cotton producing land.
Therefore, out of a sense of allegiance to -- or a fear of
backlash from -- his community, Turajonzoda is less inclined to
"squeeze" local producers. In any event, Azimov claimed that
Pakhta's policy reduced the total debt of cotton farmers in
Vakhdat from $260,000 to $116,000 and increased his company's
processing to an estimated 14,500 tons of cotton over four and
one-half months in 2007.


5. Comment: Vakhdat serves as a reminder both of the lasting
effects of Tajikistan's civil war, and of the fact that the
strong economic growth seen in the capital in recent years has
been highly concentrated -- not even reaching to the capital's
closest neighbors. While large-scale development plans of the
type proposed by the mayor and first deputy chairman are clearly

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necessary to Vakhdat's long-term prosperity, one is left with
the impression that local government could do more to address
the immediate needs of the population. However, the local
government's willingness and ability to do more for the people
of Vakhdat is likely to remain limited as long as it is shielded
from political competition and opposition viewpoints in the
media and other public fora. End Comment.
JACOBSON