VZCZCXRO0870
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1092/01 2051302
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 241302Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0691
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2199
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2168
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2210
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 0044
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1486
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2505

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 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00001092  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶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 
 
DUSHANBE 00001092  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
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