Sharing the power: Voluntary purchase or forced collection?

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DUSHANBE,Tajikistan – In Dushanbe, January 6 was declared the “Day of Solidarity of the Inhabitants of the Capital of Tajikistan for the Construction of Rogun GES” (Rogun Hydroelectric Plant) as a campaign to sell shares of stock in the plant began.

More than 580 sale outlets for Rogun GES shares and certificates opened at branches of Amonatbonk, the Tajik State Savings Bank.

One of the first to buy shares was Dushanbe Mayor Makhmadsaid Ubaidulloyev, who urged townspeople to contribute to the plant’s construction.

“I am sure today Dushanbe residents will purchase no less than 200 million somoni in shares (US $45M)”, Ubaidulloyev said.

By January 8, some 400 million somoni (US $92m) in shares had been reportedly sold in Dushanbe. Sales figures in other parts of the country were not immediately available.

Excitement in the Rogunsk share sale led at least two Tajik families to name children born January 6 in honour of the project. A boy born in Sogdisk oblast was named Rogunoshokh (sovereign of Rogun) by his parents, while a newborn girl in the Yavansk region was named Sakhmiya (stock-share), the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

In Dushanbe, the sales outlets were like festivals. Share purchasers received free plov as musicians played ethnic Tajik melodies and professional dancers and city residents, securities in hand, danced.

People gave various reasons for buying the shares.

Teacher Daler Saidaliyev, 25, bought two shares for 100 somoni (US $23) each. “I bought them voluntarily, fully assessing the situation. What is more important for me is not profiting from them, but having electricity in my house”, he said.

Saivali Tumanov, 73 and retired, summed it up: “The president made the request and I decided to support him. I spent my entire pension to buy shares for my grandson”.

Share certificates worth more than 5,000 somoni (US $1,150) were issued separately. They are registered and bigger in size. Holders of such securities were told the conditions under which future dividends would be issued.

“By 10 a.m., at just one point of sale, more than 50 townspeople became holders of certificates worth between 5,000 and 100,000 somoni”, the Ministry of Finance’s Head of the Department of Budget, Narzullo Abibulloyev, told Central Asia Online.

Abibulloyeva said 5 million Rogun GES shares were issued with a total value of 6 billion TJS (US $1.3 billion).

Money spent on Rogun GES shares will be certified permitting those who cannot account for their earnings to legitimize holdings.

“It does not surprise me that there are many people who want to buy certificates for very large sums. In this way, they are exempt from liability”, said Rustam Samiyev, an expert at the information agency Avesta.

For others, the profits from the shares were not as important as the plant itself.

“I bought 1,500 somoni in shares. But is US $400 really big money? It is the cost of a car stereo”, taxi driver Sobir, 35, said. “I have a big family — five children — and I am not interested in the profit on the shares. They can keep the money — the most important is that there is electricity.”

When asked if he knows when the hydroelectric plant will be finished, Sobir said, “For 18 years we have been living without electricity and we will wait another 10, so long as we get results”.

Holders of the securities do not want a repeat of fate of the Sangtuda GES-1 shares.

“Several years ago, the Tajik authorities appealed to ЕРУ country’s inhabitants for help in building Sangtuda, and special shares were also issued. But, the joint-stock company Sangtuda was liquidated and 75 percent of the shares went to Russia and no one returned the invested money to the people”, independent political analyst Parviz Mullozhanov said.

Firuz Saidov, a leading specialist at the Centre for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, told Central Asia Online that, according to governmental regulations adopted last year, the state holds the “golden share”, which gives it the right to veto any decision shareholders make.

“This is enough to protect the interests of national shareholders. Moreover, as a strategic facility it is not subject to privatisation: shares can only be bought by citizens of Tajikistan”, he said.

Several groups have announced plans to organize shareholders to protect their rights, including the INDEM Foundation, and the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (PIVT).

Saimiddin Dustov, the director of the INDEM Foundation, invited holders of 100 somoni certificates to join the foundation’s effort.

“Any shareholder can join our organisation. They do not give us the right to ownership of their stocks, but to their voice. If we find 100,000 small shareholders, we will have the deciding vote in Rogun, and then we can protect the interests of shareholders”, said Dustov.

But some complained the purchase of shares was thrust upon them through involuntary payroll withholding and other coercive measures.

“On New Year’s Eve, I wound up without pay. They kept all of it for the Rogun fund. How are my children and I supposed to live next month”, a 32-year-old civil servant and mother of three said in tears, asking for anonymity to preserve her job.

“I was not allowed to take my exams until I brought in 200 somoni (US $45). They say that they collected 1,000-2,000 somoni (US $230-460) from our teachers”, said Malika, a Tajik Technical University student.

“We trusted the president the last time. We would like to hope that the Tajik people will not be deceived again”, taxi driver Sobir said.