Sanctions against Russia aimed against entire CIS - Dushanbe
DUSHANBE. July 28 (Interfax) - Tajikistan considers the sanctions of Western countries against Russia to be aimed at the entire Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Dushanbe will officially support their cancellation, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojidin Aslov said at a news conference on Tuesday.
"From the first days of these sanctions we stated our stance at different events, that we are against these sanctions," Aslov said.
"Russia is our strategic partner and any sanctions against Russia, which lead to deterioration of some economy chains, will have a negative impact on our country," the Tajik foreign minister said.
Russia is Tajikistan's main trade partner, accounting for a quarter of the Tajik foreign trade turnover.
At the same time, Russia is a labor market for millions of Tajik citizens. According to the information of the Tajik National Bank, in Q1 2015 the annual net inflow of money transfers of migrant workers from Russia to Tajikistan dropped a record 42.4% to $289 million. The share of money transfers to GDP declined to 19% in January-March 2015 from 30.8% in Q1 2014. The data for January-June has not been released yet.
"From Soviet Union times we are bound to Russia with transport and economic ties. That is why we treat sanctions very negatively and we will insist at the diplomatic level that our voice is heard by partners from the West and East," Aslov said.
