Tajkistan

Railway Crossing	Crossroad in the South	Air Link from Dushanbe to Garm

Tajikistan's transport sector must recover from a severe decline in the 1990s. The share of transport within the nation’s economy shrank from 5 to 1 percent of GDP between 1991 and 1998. For example, average daily traffic on main arterial roads dropped from 3,750 in 1990 to 800 vehicles per day in 1995 (average daily traffic was back to 2,250 vehicles per day in 2001). Most of the infrastructure was constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and does not meet modern standards, although it still supports basic accessibility from settlements to market places and social services. The sector is dominated by inefficient state-owned enterprises that operate under incentives largely divorced from market realities. Although much of the fleet is inoperable, many enterprises still maintain fleets and conduct operations above present as well as predicted levels of demand for transport. Privatization of transport activities, which will be necessary to streamline the sector and stimulate growth, is still nascent.

Tajikistan remains the poorest country in the former Soviet Union, with per capita income of US$ 280. The economic structure inherited since 1991 did not fit in the new economic environment and the civil war delayed the introduction of structural reforms. The transition process and the war weakened social protection mechanisms, which contributed to rising poverty. Poverty reduction is therefore the primary objective of government policy. The government is pursuing this objective in the context of a Poverty Reduction Strategy that is placed at the center of its growth strategy (a living standards survey undertaken in 1999 shows that 83 percent of the population lives under the poverty line). Security and safety concerns also still limit the geographical scope of potential maintenance and construction works. The government Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) issued in September 2002 mentions infrastructure services as essential to economic growth. The PRSP recommends improving reliability of the infrastructure in urban areas and providing access to services to the poor living in rural areas through the rehabilitation and maintenance of the main highways, but also through the establishing of an effective network of feeder roads. Another measure is to reform the tariff system to enable operating companies to become financially viable. Eventually, tariffs will be set to achieve full cost recovery while affordability of services to the poor will be addressed either within the tariff structure or through separate targeted measures.

The government is developing a legal and regulatory framework for transport activities to operate in a market economy. Basic laws on transportation have been passed by Parliament. The government also wants to reform the management of the sector – involving separation of operational and functional responsibilities. Competition is expected to increase through corporatization of state-owned firms and the increasing number of private companies.

Roads (see roads map). Tajikistan’s population has traditionally had low access to cars. Utilization of public road transport is typically high. Public transport carries 89 percent of all passengers. Due to the increasing impoverishment of the population, passenger-kilometers in the public transport sector have fallen to 31 percent of 1992 levels. Buses and trolley-buses are the most commonly utilized means of transport, since the majority of the population cannot afford taxi, railroad, or air travel. The share of freight transported by road is the lowest in Tajikistan (reported 36% in 2003). In 1999 most transport service enterprises were corporatized and 30% of 234,000 vehicles in the national fleet were sold to the private sector.  The network is in a serious state of disrepair. The annual maintenance expenditure in 2001 was only US$ 0.9 million, 1% of what is needed.  Rehabilitation programs, with external assistance, are under way. A number of highways rehabilitation projects are underway or are expected to start soon. The Government is also planning to invest in infrastructure facilities in rural areas to increase access for the poor. A survey will be undertaken of the rural road network to determine the need for further investment.

Rail. There is no railway connection between the north and south of Tajikistan because of the mountainous terrain. Rail carries about 90% of total external cargo shipments (1,085 millions ton-km recorded in 2002).   Domestic transport of passengers comprises only 13 percent of rail services. However, passenger use of rail services grew by a factor of 1.17 between 1992 and 1998. Passenger movement on railways peaked in 1995 at almost 135 million passenger-km, which is probably accounted for by troop movement (much of it Russian) during strife between Government and United Tajik Opposition (UTO) forces, but declined to 41 million passenger-km in 2002.

Aviation. The share of freight traffic carried by air is only 0.01%.   As for passenger transport, although the population only uses air transport 18 percent as much as in 1992, passenger-km traveled in 1988 are still high considering per capita income levels. This is due to the fact that civil aviation is the only means of reaching certain areas of the country from the capital in wintertime (e.g. Leninabad Province and Badakhshan). Passenger traffic runs mainly through the Dushanbe airport to Khojend, Khorog, Korghan Tube, and international destinations.  Flights through the other 10 local airports are not as frequent. With low demand for air transport within Central Asia, Tajikistan has no direct connection to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.  The industry structure and ownership remain state controlled.  There is currently no formal separation between the national carrier, the airport and air traffic management.  The national airline is over-equipped with obsolete fleet.  Over the last five years, Tajik Air has made modest improvements in passenger service, including introducing a business class for international flights. Tajikistan is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization. See Tajikistan aviation accident/incident index from Aviation Safety network.

While the Bank currently does not have a transport project for Tajikistan in its lending program, the Bank and the Government continue to have a policy dialogue on the Transport Sector. See the latest Country Partnership Strategy for Tajikistan for more details on transport issues and recommendations.

Updated January 31, 2006

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