Entrepreneur convicted in “Year of Industrial Development”

On August 23, 2022, the regional court of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in a trial held in Khorog sentenced well-known activist, farmer, and entrepreneur from the Roshtkala district, 62-year-old Sorbon Yunoev, to 10 years in prison, finding him guilty of “extremism.”

Photo: Internet

Although the authorities in Tajikistan have previously sentenced dozens of civil activists and prominent figures to long prison terms, the imprisonment of this farmer and entrepreneur raises particular concern.

As reported earlier, in 2014, Sorbon Yunoev underwent training with the German organization GIZ and learned to produce natural juices from local fruits. Later that same year, he founded a natural juice production company in the Roshtkala district.

In the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, so many apples and wild sea buckthorn grow that local authorities have no information on how much the region loses in spoiled fruits and wild sea buckthorn each year. According to Yunoev’s estimates, 60 tons of apples spoil annually in Khorog and the Roshtkala district alone.

“We have so many apples that even livestock refuse to eat them. And the sea buckthorn bushes, which grow everywhere here, are impossible to count,” Yunoev reported.

Sorbon Yunoev processed about 3% of the apples grown in the region. It is reported that in 2019, Yunoev processed 14 tons of apples and half a ton of wild sea buckthorn. Considering that one kilogram of apples can yield about half a liter of natural juice, Yunoev produced about 7,000 liters of natural juice or 7,000 one-liter packages.

Photo: Internet

“My dream is to provide the city of Khorog with natural juice so that the population refuses those types that contain many preservatives,” Yunoev said.

As we now know, this entrepreneur’s dream from a remote mountainous area was not destined to come true, and most likely will never come true.

It should be noted that in 2020, a government decree was signed in Tajikistan “On the Program for Accelerated Industrialization of the Republic of Tajikistan for 2020-2025.” Additionally, in January 2022, by the decree of Emomali Rahmon himself, the years 2022-2026 were declared “Years of Industrial Development,” which he announced as the fourth national strategic goal.

However, in 2022, which encompasses both the period specified in the government decree and the period specified in the presidential decree, and therefore, the industrial sector was supposed to receive the greatest support from the government this year, one of the few entrepreneurs who independently launched a manufacturing enterprise in a remote mountainous area was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of “extremism.” Today, this entrepreneur is 62 years old, and when he is released from prison, he will be 72 years old, so it is quite likely that he will no longer be able to continue his activities.

Now even the 3% of apples that were processed by Yunoev and offered to the population will spoil. It is possible that there is no other specialist in wild sea buckthorn processing not only in this region but even throughout the entire republic.

It is not surprising that after reports of the repression of owners of industrial and manufacturing enterprises, their sentencing to long prison terms on fabricated charges, entrepreneurs along with their capital and property are leaving the country. “Years of Accelerated Industrial Development” will become empty words that will remain only on paper.