Azerbaijan, Baku, May 6 / Trend V.Zhavoronkova /
Tajik Agriculture Ministry spokesman Narzullo Dadabayev said Russia's increased export dues on oils and lubricants will surely affect the agriculture sphere in Tajikistan.
Russia increased the export duty on petrol by nearly 50 percent from May 1 and suspended the export of oil products for a month. This led to discussions and publications on the impact of rising prices on the agriculture sphere in Tajikistan. These assumptions are linked with the fact that today Tajikistan's demand in petroleum products are covered by Russian imports.
Tajikistan import petroleum products from the following countries - Russia - 90.2 percent, Kazakhstan - 2.6 percent and Turkmenistan - 4.4 percent.
"Russia's increased export duties on petrol by 44 percent will certainly have a detrimental effect on the agricultural sector, but the government is not voicing the alarm," Dadabayev wrote Trend in an e-mail.
Analyzing the impact of the higher fuel prices on the Tajik agricultural sector, it should be noted that the fuel cost occupy the lion's share in the costs of the produced agriculture products, he said.
"Specifically, the bulk of work on sowing of agricultural crops, conducting agricultural activities such as planting, cultivation and fertilization is carried out by a technique consuming fuel," Dadabayev said.
According to experts, Tajikistan's farms, including public, private, individual and others - use about 15,000 units of agricultural machinery.