The head of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption Sulaimon Sultonzoda told reporters in Dushanbe on February 16 that according to findings by the anticorruption agency, corruption cost Tajikistan at 348.8 million somonis last year.

“811 inspections conducted by the anticorruption agency last year revealed 348.8 million somonis worth of damage,” Sultonzoda said, noting that 84 percent (295.9 million somonis) of the damage has been reimbursed.

According to him, 2,092 tax and economic crimes, with 761 of them being serious crimes, were detected by the anticorruption agency during 2020.  

“Last year, most corruption crimes were committed in the country by representatives of local authorities – 177 crimes.  163 corruption-related crimes were revealed in the banking sector, 136 corruption-related crimes were revealed in the educational sector, 104 corruption-related crimes were registered in the health sector, 101 corruption-related crimes were registered in the agrarian sector, and so forth,” the anticorruption chief noted.  

881 officials and managers were reportedly implicated in wrongdoing, and disciplinary and administrative action was imposed upon them; 196 of them were sacked.