How the permanent leader of Tajikistan evolved. From Rakhmonov to Rakhmon. How the permanent leader of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, the most numerous president, has evolved

Turns 65 on October 5 President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. Being in fact the lifelong leader of the republic, he officially bears the title “Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation.” How did the former electrician, salesman and party committee secretary achieve all this?

Emomali Rakhmonov (he bore this last name until 2007) was born in a small village in the Kulyab region of the Tajik SSR and was the third son in a large family. The father of the future president is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, mother is a housewife. After school, Emomali worked as an electrician at a butter factory, in the 1970s he served in the Pacific Fleet, after demobilization he returned to the factory, but then got a job as a salesman. He studied in absentia at the university (faculty of economics), was the secretary of the board and chairman of the trade union committee of the collective farm, and held positions in party bodies. Over the course of several years, he rose from secretary of the state farm party committee to district committee instructor, and soon became director of the state farm. Lenin.

In 1992, Rakhmonov was elected deputy of the Supreme Council of the Tajik SSR. In 1994, the country held a constitutional referendum and presidential elections. Rakhmonov won them with more than half the votes.

Assessed the qualities of a good performer

As experts note, after the collapse of the USSR, two groups competed fiercely in Tajikistan: the former party-economic nomenklatura, which was supported by Russia and Uzbekistan, and the “Islamic-democratic” opposition. A bloody struggle for power began in the country, which quickly turned into a real civil war.

“I witnessed how Emomali Rakhmon, at that time still Rakhmonov, was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of Tajikistan,” said AiF Arkady Dubnov, country expert Central Asia . “He was quite timid and thin then, a handsome and young chairman of the Kulyab regional executive committee, and before that a field commander. He never fought for power: he was singled out, the qualities of a good performer were assessed and he was assigned important work. He was a weak politician, and what kind of politics could there be in Tajikistan in those years, if we did not mean rallies in squares? Rakhmonov won his most important victory when, with the support of the Soviet army and the Uzbek military, he managed to oust, and in a very bloody manner, the armed Tajik opposition from Tajikistan to Afghanistan. And this was a very important milestone on his path to power.”

After being elected president in 1994, Rakhmonov successfully survived armed riots and assassination attempts (in 1997, a grenade was thrown at his motorcade, and in 2001, a terrorist detonated explosives near the podium where the head of state was speaking). Having defeated the most active oppositionists and competitors, he set about strengthening the vertical of power: for example, he held a referendum on amending the constitution, received the right to run for president in 2006 and hold the presidency for two more 7-year terms.

According to Dubnov, the head of Tajikistan has always relied primarily on those whom he knows well - first they were people from his native Kulyab, and then family members: “He entrusted politics to his brother-in-law, his sister’s husband, as well as his daughter Ozoda and son Rustam.”

As officially reported, Emomali Rahmon is married to a compatriot, the couple have 9 children: two sons and 7 daughters. All of them occupy key positions in the country and are related by marriage to government officials. Son Rustam, for example, he headed the anti-smuggling department, and then became the mayor of the capital. They say that Emomali Rahmon sees him as a successor - his son allegedly could take the presidency in 2020. And at the beginning of 2016, Rahmon appointed his daughter Ozoda as head of the presidential administration.

Skillfully maneuvers between big powers

A number of experts see Rahmon’s merit in preventing Tajikistan from sliding into chaos following the example of the states of North Africa and the Middle East. They say that, being a moderately authoritarian leader, he maintains order with a strong hand in a country that simply does not accept any other style of government.

“Tajikistan cannot be compared with Iraq and Libya, the richest oil countries with traditions of independent government,” Dubnov said. — Tajikistan is a very poor country. It has neither oil nor gas. There is no independent historical experience state existence. But there is an idea of ​​what kind of power should be on the outskirts of the Soviet empire, and there is experience in communist party-building. Perhaps Emomali Rahmon kept his country from chaos, but only because Tajikistan itself was of little interest to anyone from the point of view of big geopolitics.”

However, when China needed some kind of redoubts to protect the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China from Islamic radicals, the Celestial Empire’s attention to Tajikistan increased sharply, especially since many Uyghurs live there. The Chinese began to help Dushanbe, including financially, to strengthen the borders, and were even ready to send their military to Tajikistan. Now Rakhmon is skillfully maneuvering between Russia and China: Beijing is ready to help Tajikistan financially, while Moscow provides it with military security and gives the opportunity to earn money in the Russian Federation for Tajik guest workers who make a huge contribution to Country's GDP. Plus, Rakhmon skillfully exploits the interest in his country from the United States and India.

Not long ago, Emomali Rahmon managed to resolve a territorial dispute with China that had lasted for 130 years. The PRC, in particular, demanded the return of 28.5 thousand km² of Tajik territory. As a result, the President of Tajikistan ceded 1.1 thousand km² in the Eastern Pamirs. This agreement was even appreciated by the Academic Committee of the European Council on international relations, who awarded Rahmon the title “Leader of the 21st Century”.

Fought with gold teeth and Slavic surnames

In 2006, during a visit to a rural school, Emomali Rakhmon noticed the school teacher had false gold teeth and said: “How can we convince international organizations that we are poor if our rural teachers walk around with gold teeth!” After this, all citizens of the country were ordered to remove the gold prostheses.

And in 2007, speaking to representatives of the intelligentsia, the leader of the Tajik nation called on them to return to traditional cultural roots and use national toponymy. In particular, he announced that he had decided to change his own surname from Rakhmonov to Rakhmon. And in addition, by a special decree, he prohibited the registration in registry offices of children whose surnames have the Slavic endings “-ev” and “-ov” (at the same time, it was allowed to use only Persian variants of their spelling).

In 2009, Rahmon signed the law “On state language”, which defined Tajik as the only language for communication with government authorities - while the Constitution of the country proclaimed Russian as the language of interethnic communication. And in 2010, parliament adopted amendments according to which all laws and regulations in the official press should be published only in the Tajik language - so Russian was completely excluded from office work. In addition, under Emomali Rahmon, a wave of renaming of Soviet settlements took place in Tajikistan: for example, the city of Chkalovsk became Buston, the Leninabad region - Sogd, villages, mountain peaks and streets that bore the names of Russian and Soviet idols - Pushkin, Gogol, Gagarin, etc. were renamed .

Rakhmon’s authoritarian “habits” have certainly become the subject of criticism from the liberal press. “And yet equate his reign with a cult of personality Niyazov in Turkmenistan, Karimova in Uzbekistan or Kim Jong-un in the DPRK, it doesn’t happen,” Dubnov believes. — In Tajikistan there is relative, in comparison with Turkmenistan, freedom of speech. On the Internet, you can publish opinions that are quite risky from the point of view of official propaganda. And Tajiks themselves are much more freedom-loving than their neighbors, and less subject to the shouts of their superiors.”

In 2013 at presidential elections Rakhmon was re-elected for the 4th time. And in 2015, he ratified a law that allowed him to hold the position of head of state for life. After the referendum in 2016, an amendment was made to the Constitution removing the limit on the number of re-elections to the post of head of state.

“Hypothetical threats to Rakhmon exist, first of all, from his inner circle,” Dubnov believes. “If the president’s behavior no longer suits those who support him today, these people may take some “restrictive measures” against him. But the transfer of power to his son Rustam still looks extremely unlikely. Much more influential is his daughter Ozoda, who, by the way, has a very tense relationship with her brother.”

Experts consider the main achievement of the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Tajikistan to be the actual abolition of the visa regime, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev promises never to close the opened gates.

Now residents of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be able to stay in the neighboring country for 30 days without the need to obtain a visa.

Rashid Ghani Abdullo, a Tajik expert on regional issues, considers this decision to be the de facto abolition of the visa regime introduced at the initiative of Tashkent in 2001.

According to the press service of the Tajik president, during Mirziyoyev’s visit to Dushanbe from March 8 to 10, 27 agreements were signed between the countries, including an agreement on Uzbekistan’s participation in the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric power station.

The same hydroelectric power station, which in the 2000s became a bone of contention during the reign of the first President Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan. He believed that the high dam of the Rogun hydroelectric station threatened to leave the lower reaches of the country, or more precisely, Uzbekistan, without irrigation water.

Now Mirziyoyev said that “Tashkent is interested in the development of clean energy in Tajikistan and for this purpose will take an equity participation in the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric power station, and in the coming days will begin importing Tajik electricity in the amount of 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours.

Rashid Ghani Abdullo recalls that at one time the Rogun hydroelectric power station project was developed at a Soviet research institute located in the Uzbek capital, and therefore Tashkent is well aware of all the benefits and possible risks from the construction of this hydroelectric complex.

Rakhmatillo Zoirov, chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, also agrees with him, who believes that Mirziyoyev put an end to the disagreements of the Karimov period by expressing a desire to invest in the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric station.

The Uzbek leader himself, at a meeting with the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, said that Uzbekistan intends to transfer 32% of its generating capacity to renewable sources of electricity over the next five years.

Therefore, Tajik experts do not rule out that Tashkent, having now invested in the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric power station, will subsequently be able to receive dividends in the form of electricity generated at this station.

Among the agreements signed, one can also mention cooperation between the special services of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Tajikistan in the field of preventing terrorist threats, as well as between the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the two countries on joint investigation of criminal cases.

The parties and experts called Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Tajikistan historic from the very first day.

If only because it was the first time that President Rahmon personally met and saw off his Uzbek colleague at the airport.

Previously, top officials of foreign states were met and escorted by the country's Prime Minister.

Mirziyoyev did not remain in debt either, who during the two days of the visit, according to a story shown on TV channels about the meetings of the two leaders, called Rahmon “dear brother” at least 20 times.

The first day of the visit began with negotiations between the two presidents: first in a one-on-one format, and then with the participation of delegations from both countries. After the completion of the negotiations, the presidents went to the capital’s Manege, where they launched the “Made in Uzbekistan” exhibition.

The products of over a hundred enterprises are presented at the exhibition of industrial goods of Uzbekistan.

Foreign trade turnover between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has a growing trend, and last year its volumes increased sixfold.

So, if in 2015 this figure reached $12 million, then in 2017 it was $126 million. In the near future, the parties agreed to increase mutual trade turnover: this year - up to 500 million US dollars, and in the future - up to one billion.

During the last business forum, Uzbek entrepreneurs expressed hope for creating joint ventures with Tajikistan.

Azamat Ortykov, one of the managers of the Tashkent company Sanitopharm, said that their company produces 50 percent of anti-infective agents and drugs.

“We also provide Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with such drugs. Our company hopes to find its niche in the market medicines Tajikistan. We already have agreements on the supply of anti-infective drugs to Tajikistan. But we came to the conclusion that we need to create a joint Tajik-Uzbek enterprise,” said Azamat Ortykov.

The head of the Samarkand Affarel company, Alisher Ismoilov, also hopes that together with their Tajik colleagues they will sign an agreement to create a joint venture to produce modern clothing.

According to him, such an enterprise has already been created with partners from South Korea.

"We release sportswear made of cotton fiber by order of the world brands Adidas and Nike... We hope that our joint venture with Tajikistan will begin work very soon,” noted the interlocutor of Ts-1.

According to the state television channel of Tajikistan, at the end of the business forum, an agreement was signed to open a joint automobile production in Tajikistan.

The evening of the first day of Mirziyoyev’s visit to Tajikistan ended with a grand concert “Evening of Friendship” with the participation of famous artists from the two neighboring countries.

But the crowning number of this show, according to experts, was the joint performance of the song “Zamon, Zamon...” in the Tajik and Uzbek languages.

The song was performed by masters of vocal art Sherali Juraev from Uzbekistan and Jurabek Murodov from Tajikistan. About three thousand spectators, including the presidents of the two countries, stood and applauded the performers' singing, and tears of joy appeared in the eyes of millions of television viewers.

Ordinary residents of Tajikistan noticed that the Uzbek president, compared to his Tajik counterpart, practically did not look into pre-prepared texts.

He “flaunted” such pompous epithets as “Tajiks and Uzbeks - two lines of one couplet”; “I entered the opening of the gate, and my task is to ensure that this gate is never closed again.”

During the concert, Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that he presented Emomali Rahmon with a symbolic golden gate, as well as a collection of works and correspondence of two great poets of the East - Tajik Abdurahmoni Jomi and Uzbek Alisher Navoi, published under the patronage of the Uzbek president himself.

Today, October 5, the head of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon turns 65 years old; For 23 years of which he has served as president of the republic. Despite the fact that the leader of the country is a public person, private information about Emomali Rahmon is quite difficult to find: the Tajik president rarely gives interviews, and people close to him do not tell journalists about him.

"Open Asia Online" decided to collect Interesting Facts about Emomali Rahmon.

Emomali Rahmon is the most numerous president

Almost nothing is known about the wife of the Tajik President Azizmo Asadullayeva: she is a rare guest at receptions and almost never accompanies her husband on trips.

Emomali Rahmon with his eldest son Rustam Emomali

Emomali Rahmon with his youngest son Somon Emomali

Emomali Rahmon was a sailor

Emomali Rakhmon began his career as an electrician

From 1987 to 1992, he was the director of the Lenin state farm in the Dangara region, in 1992 he was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Tajikistan, and two years later, during a popular vote, Emomali Rakhmonov became the president of the country. In those elections, he received 59% of the vote, ahead of his rival Abdumalik Abdulladzhanov, for whom 34% of voters voted.

An attempt was made on the life of Emomali Rahmon

In 1997, an attempt was made on the life of the President of Tajikistan in Khujand. Then the head of state and several of his associates, including former Minister of Internal Affairs Yakub Salimov, were injured. In 2012, Salimov, in an interview with our partners, the Asia Plus media group, described this case as follows:

“Suddenly, that man threw a grenade, it fell a meter from the president. The head of state was engrossed in a lively conversation with people and did not see this moment. I hit the grenade with my right foot and, covering the president with myself, knocked him to the ground. There was a deafening explosion and shooting began. A few seconds later I picked up the president, put him down left hand around his neck and quickly led him towards the Palace of Culture. The four officers who were with me formed a shield around us and accompanied us. It became clear that the president was limping; he was wounded in the leg.”

By the way, Salimov gave this interview from prison: in 2003, he was detained by the Tajik side in Russia and extradited to Dushanbe. In April 2005, Salimov was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of betraying his homeland; he was released under an amnesty only last year.

In 2012, Tajik newspapers reported that in fact, in 1997, it was not Salimov who saved the president’s life, but Rakhmonov’s personal bodyguard.

Emomali Rakhmon was Rakhmonov

According to the president of the republic, Tajiks “need to return to our cultural roots and use national toponymy.”

“For example, in various documents, including international ones, my first and last names are called differently, so I would like to be called Emomali Rahmon, after the name of my late father,” the president of the republic said then.

Emomali Rakhmon is a sports fan

“For an amateur, he plays (tennis - OA’s note) very well. By the way, at the summit in Kazakhstan, our president beat the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, in tennis. Moreover, Karimov has been playing tennis for quite a long time. Emomali Sharipovich also plays volleyball and football well,” former President of the National Olympic Committee Bakhrulo Rajabaliev told local journalists.

Emomali Rahmon visited the Kaaba building twice

Emomali Rahmon managed to defeat Trump in a handshake

Donald Trump's famous way of shaking hands with his colleagues, when he can forcefully pull a person towards him, did not work with Emomali Rahmon. This year, during a meeting between the two presidents in Saudi Arabia, the President of Tajikistan managed to maintain balance when shaking Trump’s hands and even pulled him slightly to his side.

Trump and Rakhmon were even mentioned in The Washington Post, noting that the head of Tajikistan was ready for the standard manner of the American president and “pulled” his hand in time. “It appears that Trump’s handshake moment did not go as planned,” the story noted.

Emomali Rahmon has officially been assigned the status of Leader of the Nation

Emomali Rahmon has been the permanent president of Tajikistan since 1994. After the constitutional referendum in May 2016, an amendment was made to the country’s basic law, removing the limit on the number of re-elections to the post of head of state.

Since the year of his election to the highest position in the country, the President of the Republic has the title “Peshvoi Millat”. The full name of the title is “Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation.”

Childhood and youth

Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmonov appeared in a large family in the village of Dangara, Kulyab region of the TSSR. Emomali is the third son in the Rakhmonov family. The father of the future president, Sharif Rakhmonov, is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and was awarded the Order of Glory in two degrees. Mom Mayram Sharifova is a housewife, raised children and kept house.

The future leader of the nation, having graduated from secondary school in 1969, got a job as an electrician at an oil mill in Kurgan-Tube. In the early 1970s, Emomali Rakhmon served in the Pacific Fleet, and after demobilization he returned to the plant, later working as a salesman.

In the late 70s, Rakhmonov entered the university in absentia, choosing the Faculty of Economics. Received his diploma in 1982.

Policy

Since 1976, Emomali Rahmon has been the secretary of the collective farm board in the Dangara district of the Kulyab region. In six years, the young man grew from secretary of the state farm party committee to instructor of the district committee.

In the summer of 1988, Rakhmonov took the chair of the director of the state farm and worked in this position until 1992, when he became a deputy of the Supreme Council of Tajikistan.

Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the TSSR were held amid the roar of opposition rallies. Due to the abundance of red symbols, the rallies were called communist. The Popular Front of Emomali Rahmon opposed the “red camp”. In December 1992, the “front-line soldiers” occupied the capital, and Emomali headed the government.

In November 1994, the country held a constitutional referendum and presidential elections. Emomali Rahmon won with 58.7% of the vote. 95.7% of voters in Tajikistan voted for the updated Constitution.

The united opposition and its supporters did not come to the elections and referendum, having previously declared the elections rigged.

The president

To reduce the degree of confrontation, in June 1997, Emomali Rahmon and his government concluded a truce with the opposition, giving it a dozen seats in the government. Islamists joined government structures, parliament and the army, but the fight against the opposition did not stop. There were two attempts on the leader's life. The first was in April 1997 in Khujand: a grenade was thrown at the presidential motorcade. In November 2001, a terrorist detonated explosives near the podium in Khujand, where the head of state was speaking. Emomali Rakhmon was not injured in either the first or second cases.

In the winter of 1997, Colonel Makhmud Khudoiberdyev, one of the former leaders of the Popular Front, started a rebellion that was supported in Uzbekistan. Emomali Rakhmonov suppressed the rebellion and began to eliminate yesterday's comrades and influential oppositionists.

In 2003, the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, Yakub Salimov, was detained in Moscow and extradited to his homeland, where he was sentenced to 15 years in a maximum security prison.

It is noteworthy that Yakub Salimov saved President Rakhmon during the first assassination attempt. Salimov pushed the president away and protected him from the shrapnel with his body. Emomali Rahmon thanked and stated in a televised address that he and his children will forever remember Yakub Salimov. But 6 years after the assassination attempt, Salimov, appointed Ambassador of Tajikistan to Turkey, was accused of abuse of office, arms trafficking and attempting to organize a coup. The ambassador was arrested in Moscow, where he fled.

And in December 2004, the second opponent of Emomali Rahmon, the head of the Tajik Democratic Party Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, was arrested in Moscow. After four months in pre-trial detention, he was released, but in the spring next year Iskandarov received 23 years in prison.

A “misfire” happened only with the former Minister of Trade Khabibullo Nasrulloev. At the request of the Tajik prosecutor's office, he was detained in Moscow, but Supreme Court The Russian Federation refused to extradite Iskandarov to the authorities of the republic. At home, he was accused of involvement in illegal armed groups that threatened to overthrow state power in Tajikistan. Previously, Nasrulloev was a supporter of the Popular Front and an ally of Rakhmonov, but in the presidential elections he supported his rival Abdumalik Abdulodjonov.

After eliminating the most ardent oppositionists, Emomali Rahmon set about consolidating power. In 2003, he held a referendum that resulted in changes to the constitution. The leader of the nation received the right to run for president in 2006 and hold the presidency for two more 7-year terms.

In 2006, Emomali Rahmon won the next presidential election. In line with the “Tajikization” taking place in the republic, Russian endings of surnames were banned. So Rakhmonov became Rakhmon and “cut off” his middle name. A period of return to folk traditions and the old way of life began. The Islamic Quran was translated into Tajik, and in 2009 a resolution was adopted stating that Tajik is the only language possible for business use. The Russian language, despite the promises of Emomali Rahmon, turned out to be “out of favor.”

In December 2009, information appeared in the Russian media that President Emomali Rahmon hit the President of Uzbekistan. The Tajik leader admitted to a difficult relationship with the head of a neighboring power in Dushanbe, at a meeting with Tajik journalists, where the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric power station was discussed.

Journalists claim that Emomali Rahmon spoke about disputes with and even that he had two fights with the president of Uzbekistan. Russian publications wrote that Rakhmonov was frank “off the record,” but there were fifty journalists in the hall who did not miss the opportunity to seize on the sensation.

On the second day after the publication of Rakhmon’s interview, there were no comments from the press services of the presidents of the two republics, so there was room for speculation.

In 2011, the English-language weekly The Economist ranked Tajikistan at 151 as a state with an authoritarian regime in its World Democracy Index. The economy of the poorest republic of the USSR, undermined by a war that claimed up to 120 thousand lives and 18 annual budgets, gradually recovered. In 1999, according to the World Bank, 83% of people fell below the poverty line. But in 2011 the figure dropped to 45%.

The country's economy is dependent on the income earned by migrant workers. According to the World Bank, in 2011, 47% of Tajikistan’s GDP came from migrant remittances.

Emomali Rahmon managed to resolve a territorial dispute with China that lasted 130 years. The PRC demanded the return of 28.5 thousand km². During a visit to Beijing, the President of Tajikistan ceded 1.1 thousand km² to China in the Eastern Pamirs. The political maneuver that resolved the territorial dispute was appreciated by the European Council, awarding the head of state the title “Leader of the 21st Century.”

In November 2013, in the presidential elections, Emomali Rahmon took the presidency for the 4th time. And in 2015, he ratified a law that allowed him to hold the position of head of state for life.

Personal life

Emomali Rakhmon is married to compatriot Azizmo Asadullayeva. The couple had 9 children: two sons and seven daughters. All occupy key positions in the country and are connected by dynastic marriages with representatives of the republic’s authorities. The eldest daughter Firuza is married to the head of the Tajik railway. Son Rustam, born in 1987, headed the anti-smuggling department and is today the mayor of the capital.

Ozod's daughter received a diploma from the University of Maryland. At the beginning of 2016, Emomali Rahmon appointed Ozoda Rahmon as head of the presidential administration. Married to the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic.

Parveen's daughter is married to the son of the Minister of Energy and Industry. Zarrin's sixth daughter is an announcer on a state television channel. In 2013, she married the son of the head of the Communications Service.

In his free time, the head of state enjoys hunting and reading books. He collects antiques. Ill-wishers and the opposition attribute discreditable connections to Rakhmon and accuse him of having a “harem.” Singer Gulra Tabarova, national television announcer Munira Rakhimova and the daughter of the Minister of Defense of the Republic Diana Khairulloeva are called the mistresses of Emomali Rakhmonov. Of course, the information has not been officially confirmed and there is no evidence.

Emomali Rahmon now

In February 2017, the President of Tajikistan told reporters why he appointed his eldest son as mayor of Dushanbe. According to him, Rakhmon Rustam Emomali is an experienced manager who “cannot be negatively influenced from the outside.” Rumor has it that Emomali Rahmon sees his son as a successor to the presidential chair, which he will occupy in 2020.

At the end of February 2017, I arrived in Dushanbe. The Russian leader’s visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries. At a meeting in the Palace of the Nation (second only to the White House, according to the English website Theestle.Net), the presidents discussed trade and economic cooperation and signed a package of joint documents.

State

A telegram from the American Embassy in Tajikistan dated February 16, 2010 states that the president’s relatives manage large businesses in the republic and own a bank. The state's exports are limited to aluminum and hydroelectric power, and two-thirds of the profits of the Tajik aluminum smelter in Tursunzade end up in the offshore of the presidential company. From these proceeds, Rakhmon allegedly “amassed” a billion-dollar fortune.

There is no official confirmation of the information or a completed investigation to confirm the rumors.