OCCRP: Last Breath for Tajiks Largest Company (Faroz)

The news article, published by OCCRP on 13 September 2019 and reported by Zdravko Ljubas, reports that Faroz — described as a controversial and one of the largest Tajik conglomerates — announced the liquidation of its assets, saying the company had “lost its competitiveness in the country’s market.” According to the report, Central Asian media outlet Akhbor first reported on the company’s letter to Tajikistan’s Tax Committee signed by CEO Azamat Kosimov. The report cites the letter’s explanation: “Due to the lack of competitiveness in the market for the sale of fuel, import and retail sale of fuel materials from direct suppliers on the Tajik market, direct purchase from fuel producers, bypassing intermediaries, and import of fuel into the Republic of Tajikistan as well as the high costs of the purchased goods, Company has lost its competitiveness in the country’s market.” Kosimov also cited the global economic downturn and stated that the shareholders had decided to sell all of the company’s property and call for its liquidation. The report states that Faroz was established in 2008 as a commercial company focused on the import, wholesale and retail sale of fuel. It grew into a closed joint-stock company owned by Shamsullo Sakhibov, husband of one of the daughters of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. It states that Faroz expanded from selling oil to NATO troops in Afghanistan into a wide range of fields, including oil and gas, mining, customs terminals, driving schools, spas, a winter sports complex, a bank, and other private businesses. Edward Lemon, Tajikistan expert at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, is quoted saying Tajikistan’s economy is dominated by businessmen linked to the presidential family who use their control over government agencies to “skew the market in their favor” and that corruption “pervades every level of the society and the economy.” Lemon told OCCRP that if Sakhibov had not been married into the Rahmon family, Faroz would probably have been targeted itself. The report notes an earlier OCCRP investigation concluded the state had been used for the good of the company. Sources cited: Akhbor, OCCRP, Edward Lemon.