Uzbekistan stops transportation to Afghanistan over “breach” of contract

Uzbekistan Railways has suspended rail transportation to Afghanistan from February 1, blaming the Taliban authorities for not fulfilling technical obligation as per an agreement signed between the two sides in December.

The company in a statement said that the Taliban failed to honor its technical work obligations.

“Considering that Afghanistan Railway Authority is unable to implement the agreed measures in time, please be advised that railroad shipments on the Galaba/Hairton – Mazar-i-Sharif line in Afghanistan’s northern province of Balkh will be suspended from February 1,” Interfax reported, citing the statement.

On December 26-30, the Uzbek and Afghan representatives met in Termez, a city in south of Uzbekistan on the border with Afghanistan and they agreed on a plan of phased technical work to be performed by Afghan railroad workers in Afghanistan by February 1, 2023.

During the meeting, Sogdiana Trans and the Afghanistan Railway Authority mutually also agreed on the list of works to be performed and their prices. They also reached consensus to sign a new contract by January 27 of this year.

Railway line was built in 2010

Uzbekistan Railway furthered that since the line was built in 2010, all services to the railway line have been provided by its subsidiary company Sogdiana Trans.

The company said “to support entrepreneurs and ensure continuous cargo transportation to Afghanistan, as well as to prevent delays in delivering essential goods to Afghanistan, Sogdiana Trans will give practical assistance in transporting cargo to Afghanistan by truck from Termez logistics centers and via the Termez river port,” the press service said.

It will be part of an effort to prevent the stoppage of transportation of essential goods to Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan Railways built the 75-kilometer Hairaton – Mazar-i-Sharif railroad worth $129 million in 2010. Sogdiana Trans was established a year later to operate and service this line.

Taliban security forces at Hairatan port between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan

However, just before negotiations with Uzbekistan Railways, the Taliban officials on December six last year, just two weeks before discussions, signed a contract with a Kazakhstani company, Mansour Fatih, to manage the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line.

Local media in that time in Uzbekistan reported that the Kazak Company would manage technical issues for the line.

Taliban yet to comment

The Taliban officials did not comment on the news so far and the stop on railway services would definitely impact negatively on the country’s already fragile economic situation.

However, the Taliban has tried its best to sign different contracts with foreign countries to manage its economy and also the office of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Economy had said that over the past 10 months, the nation’s exports have topped $1.7 billion and that revenue from this has been collected.

The office said that despite several difficulties including the freezing of Afghan assets and other restrictions on the banking system, they worked hard to keep the value of the Afghani currency against dollars and other foreign exchange.

The ministry also said that increase in exports has led to the surge in revenue.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Wali Haqmal, a spokesman for the finance ministry said that since March until the end of January 10, they have collected nearly 150 million Afs.

The majority of the revenue was from the customs office, according to him.

Revenue growth

Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy, said that domestic and foreign revenue has grown 90%, and put two reasons behind them. One of the main reasons was the reduction in inflation and the second was the increase in exports from Afghanistan.

Nazari said that an unprecedented record has been broken.

The economic pundits believe that these revenues must be invested in improving infrastructural projects.

The Prime Minister’s office said that despite all the challenges including sanctions on the banking system, they were able to provide the salaries of around 800,000 employees from domestic budget and income.

Low-quality diesel

Moreover, the Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA) said that they have returned four tankers of low-quality diesel back to Iran.

ANSA said that they stopped and returned these tankers at Islam Qala port in Herat province over poor quality of the fuel. The authority has taken practical steps to prevent the importation of low-quality oil.

ANSA also called on the traders to import goods in standard quality otherwise they will face the same consequences.

In early this month, the ANSA also sent 26 tankers of “poor quality” fuel back to Iran.

At the same time, Iran ambassador to Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that Tehran has taken measures to facilitate the visa issuance to the Afghan businessmen.

Qomi in a tweet said that “with the aim of developing commercial-economic cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan, facilitating the process of issuing and receiving multiple-entry business visas will be accelerated for Afghan businessmen.”

Earlier, the Taliban Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in a meeting with the Iranian envoy appreciated Iran’s efforts for the facilitation of the visa issuance process, economic cooperation, securing the common border, and hosting Afghan immigrants.