Chief of the border crossing point (BCP) Fotehobod (Oybek) long Tajikistan’s common border with Uzbekistan Olim Sattorov and two his deputies have been dismissed, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, locally known as Ozodi, reported yesterday, citing its source.

There is no official information about replacement of the Fotehobod BCP.   Ozodi notes that it is still unknown whether staff changes have been made in the framework of regular rotation or they have been dismissed after citizens’ complaints     

Boymurod Abdulhamidov, who had previously served as chief of the Guliston BCP along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border, replaced Olim Sattorov in the post of the Fotehobod BCP chief.  Staff changes were reportedly made last week and the new chief of the Fotehobod BCP and his two deputies have already start work, a reliable source told Ozodi on August 9.  

Meanwhile, hundreds of people, who gathered at the Fotehobod BCP on July 28 hoping to cross the state border and continue to follow to Russia, expressed dissatisfaction with the work of border guards “let some people pass even without the necessary documents for a bribe.”

One of interlocutors of Ozodi, Doro Hojimatov, said that according to rumors “border guards let some people cross the border for a bribe – for 1,300 somonis.” 

The anticorruption agency’s office in Sughd province, however, says that over six months of this year, they have received only one bribery complaint against employees of the Fotehobod BCP.  

Fotehobod (Oybek) BCP is a land border-crossing point between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan with international status.  This BCP is the main arteria for automobiles on the way from Kazakhstan to Tajikistan.   

Currently, there are eighteen BCPs along the Tajik-Uzbek border; nine of them have an international status.  Fourteen BCPs are located in the northern Sughd province and the remaining four BCPs are located in the southern Khatlon province and in the Tursunzoda district (central Tajikistan).