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BISHKEK (TCA) — Court officers in Kyrgyzstan have raided the independent television station NTS, which is owned by opposition politician and former presidential candidate Omurbek Babanov, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported.
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BISHKEK (TCA) — The European Union and Kyrgyzstan on December 19 opened negotiations on a new agreement. Negotiations towards a comprehensive framework that will strengthen bilateral relations were launched by Mr Luc Devigne, Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia and OSCE, Chief Negotiator on behalf of the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr Emil Kaikiev.
BISHKEK (TCA) — In the time of the Great Game, Afghanistan was in the center of the struggle between the Russian and British empires for their influence on Central Asia. Nowadays, post-Soviet republics of Central Asia seek to build stronger economic ties with their southern neighbor, as Afghanistan is a promising sales market and transit link for access to the Indian subcontinent and southern sea ports. This cannot be ignored by Russia and other world powers. In the following article, originally published by The National Interest, S. Frederick Starr* says that Afghanistan is part of Central Asia and not simply a problematic neighbor:
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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Bank loans in Tajikistan decreased by 13 percent in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same period last year, Avesta news agency reports citing the country’s Monetary and Credit Policy Forecast for 2018.
As of the beginning of October, bank loans amounted to 9.2 billion somoni (over US $1 billion).
According to the document, loans in the national currency decreased by 8.3 percent and in foreign currency by 15 percent. Bank deposits decreased by 9.4 percent, down to 8.8 billion somoni.
Tajikistan now has 17 banks.
Tajikistan’s banking sector has been experiencing a difficult period since the end of 2015-early 2016, when four commercial banks — Tajiksodirotbank, Agroinvestbank, Fononbank, and Tajprombank — faced troubles. As a result, two banks — Fononbank and Tajprombank — have gone bankrupt and are currently in the process of liquidation.
The two other troubled banks — Tajiksodirotbank and Agroinvestbank — were on the brink of bankruptcy, but the government has found money to save them.
Depositors of these banks cannot get their money back in full at first demand and can withdraw them by installments only.
This situation has led to decreasing trust of the Tajik population in the country’s banking system.
Late in November, the head of the Tajik National Bank, Jamshed Nurmakhmadzoda, reported on the situation in the banking sector in the Tajik parliament.
He said that Tajiksodirotbank and Agroinvestbank had returned 115 million somoni to their clients over the past two months.
The chief banker said Agroinvestbank returned 61 million somoni to its depositors and Tajiksodirotbank – 54 million somoni. Agroinvestbank is yet to return 700 million somoni and Tajiksodirotbank still owes 904 million somoni to its depositors.
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BISHKEK (TCA) — Authorities in China have been sending thousands of Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic minority group living primarily in the country’s western province of Xinjiang, to detention camps for political crimes like having extremist thoughts, Russia’s Sputnik news agency reports citing an Associated Press investigation.
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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tajikistan, which represent over 50 per cent of the country’s labour force, will be available to a greater number of domestic SMEs following the risk sharing accord between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the First MicroFinance Bank (FMFB). The cooperation will help channel much needed funds to businesses across the country, including remote mountainous areas, the EBRD said on December 18.
