Tajikistan: Prime tract of land handed to president’s relative, opponents claim

The Tajik government has recently transferred thousands of hectares of prime land to a private company that government opponents claim is controlled by a close relative of the authoritarian president, Emomali Rahmon, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported.

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service obtained a copy of an official document signed by Rahmon on November 29 that grants temporary ownership of the land to the Ismoili Somoni Holding Company.

According to the government’s business registry, the head of the holding company is Rahmatullo Asadulloevich Sadulloev, whom the president’s critics have identified as one of Rahmon’s brothers-in-law.

RFE/RL has contacted the Tajik authorities for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

The document doesn’t explain why the government decided to give some 8,500 hectares of land to a private company. It includes pastures, forests, and plots in sought-after areas just outside the capital, Dushanbe.

The new owner will have full control of the land for the next 20 years, the document states.

With mountains covering 93 percent of Tajikistan’s surface area, land is a precious commodity in the country of 10 million people. The deal comes as ordinary Tajiks complain of a severe shortage of land to graze their livestock, grow food, and build homes. The state registry shows that the Ismoili Somoni Holding Company was established in 2006 and has since been involved in various businesses, including construction. Official documents provide no details or photos of the company’s head, Rahmatullo Asadulloevich Sadulloev.

According to media close to the political opposition, he is one the influential Sadulloev brothers — the siblings of Tajikistan’s first lady, Azizamo Asadulloeva — who control numerous lucrative businesses in the corruption-stricken country.

RFE/RL cannot confirm if the company’s chairman is indeed a member of the family or a mere namesake with a business portfolio matching that of Rahmon’s relatives. There are also other private companies in Tajikistan whose name includes “Ismoli Somoni.”

Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan with an iron fist since 1992, has long been accused of exploiting his position to enrich himself and his relatives while the majority of Tajiks live in poverty.

Almost all major banks and businesses in Tajikistan are thought to be controlled by Rahmon’s friends and supporters.

In addition to their private companies, several of his nine children occupy high government positions.

His eldest son, Rustam, simultaneously holds two important posts: the chairman of the upper house of parliament and the mayor of Dushanbe. The first post puts him next-in-line for the Tajik presidency if his father should become incapacitated or otherwise unable to serve.

One of Rahmon’s daughters, Ozoda, is the chief of staff of the presidential administration, while her husband, Jamoliddin Nuraliev, had served as the first deputy finance minister and first deputy chairman of the National Bank.