DUSHANBE, May 22, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- Completion of the Istiqlol Tunnel has been postponed for an uncertain period.

“The issue of financing the completion of construction of the Istiqlol Tunnel has not been solved yet,” the Minister of Transport Nizom Hakimov told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, the Government of Iran has not yet allocated funds for these works.  “Iranian government delegation is expected to arrive in Dushanbe in the near future to discuss this issue,” the minister added.

As it had been reported earlier, deputies of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament endorsed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Tajikistan and Iran on completion of the construction of the Istiqlol Tunnel on April 10.

The document, which was signed in September 2011, reportedly provides for allocation of additional 6 million U.S. dollars for completion of the construction of the Istiqlol Tunnel.  This amount includes US$3 million grant provided by the Government of Iran and US$3 million provided by Tajikistan’s national budget.

Iran’s Saber International has been chosen to complete the construction of the tunnel and Iran was expected to complete the construction by the end of September.

The Istiqlol Tunnel, better known among the population as the Anzob Tunnel, has been built with assistance of Iranian specialists.  Iran’s Saber International has constructed the Istiqlol Tunnel.  The total project cost was estimated at 40 million US dollars, and Iran has provided US$10 million in a form of grant and extended a preferential loan worth US$21 million to Tajikistan.  The tunnel makes the highway from Dushanbe to Khujand open for traffic the whole year round and drops the transit time by four to five hours.  An official opening ceremony of the Istiqlol Tunnel was held in July 2007; however, some works have remained unfinished.

The Istiqlol Tunnel is a five kilometer long tunnel located 80 kilometers northwest of Dushanbe.  It connects the Tajik capital to Tajikistan’s second largest city, Khujand.  It is also a transit route between Dushanbe and Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent.  Previously, especially during the cold seasons, a lack of a direct link between northern and southern Tajikistan led to disruptions of commerce.