The 4th National Report of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) was presented in Dushanbe today. It was noted at the event that thanks to the timely submission of the report on the part of Tajikistan, the International Secretariat of the EITI restored the status of the country, which had been suspended since 2022 and there was a threat of expulsion of the republic from this organization.
The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) National Report is currently available on the website of the International EITI Secretariat. It covered the reporting of the mining industry for 2019-2021 and 14 large mining companies in Tajikistan.
It was noted that the timely preparation of the report made it possible to restore Tajikistan’s status in the EITI, which was suspended in 2022 and the release date of the report was given until June 2023. If this instruction of the International Secretariat of the EITI was not followed, Tajikistan would be excluded from the initiative.
“Now a lot will depend on the validation process under the EITI, which will take place in 2024. A lot of painstaking work has been done and we hope that Tajikistan will be sanctioned and highly assessed for compliance with EITI standards,” said Isfandiyor Yazdonzoda, National EITI Coordinator in Tajikistan.
This report includes not only information on the volume of mineral resources extracted in Tajikistan, taxes paid by mining companies to the state budget and where these funds were spent by the state, quasi-fiscal expenses of companies, registers of licenses and contracts, but also changes in legislation regarding subsoil use and other important information.
As an example, the authors of the report explained that in 2019, amendments were made to the Tax Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, which softened the legislation for subsoil users on the payment of a one-time fixed tax in the form of subscription bonuses. A change was made to the rules defining the timing of payment of the signing bonus.
“Further implementation of the EITI can help improve the management of the extractive sector, adapt legislation to international standards for mining, which can further improve the country’s investment climate. This, in turn, will provide additional jobs, improve the well-being of the population and contribute to the fight against corruption,” said EITI expert Jahongir Nigmatov.
All three parties of the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) – government agencies, civil society and extractive companies – were involved in the preparation of the National Extractive Sector Report.
Tajikistan has been a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for 10 years. In February 2013, Tajikistan was accepted as a candidate country for the implementation of the EITI, and then the republic became a follower country.
Currently, 57 countries around the world, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Armenia and other countries, are implementing the EITI in order to improve the management of their natural resources and investment climate, as well as strengthen the fight against corruption. More than 70 major global mining companies are participants in the initiative and are potential investors in countries where the EITI is being implemented.
Over the past three years, work under the EITI in Tajikistan has been funded by the US Embassy in Tajikistan as part of the project “Improving Fiscal Transparency in Tajikistan.” The contractor for the technical assistance project is the non-profit organization Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC).
Source: Asia Plus TJ
