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Russian Embassy works on returning Russian citizens from Tajikistan by land

The most difficult issue is transit through the territory of Kazakhstan - fuel and maintenance are needed to pass over 600 km, with women and children among the passengers

DUSHANBE, July 11. /TASS/. The Russian diplomatic mission works on providing transit for Russians located in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, who wish to return to Russia by land, Consul General of Russian in Khujand Andrey Varlamov told TASS.

Varlamov said that the departure of Russians from Tajikistan has already been agreed with the Tajik authorities. "The mechanism for the departure of Russian citizens to their homeland by land transport is being developed with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and the Uzbek authorities agree to transit to the Uzbek-Kazakh border with a certificate confirming the absence of coronavirus infection," he said.

According to the diplomat, the most difficult issue is transit through the territory of Kazakhstan - fuel and maintenance are needed to pass over 600 km, with women and children among the passengers. "According to our information, there are about 138 cars [of Russian citizens] in Tajikistan, 70 - in Uzbekistan, it turns into a convoy of 200 cars or more," he noted.

Varlamov explained that the Kazakhstan side is exploring the option of transporting people on buses and their cars in trailers, but questions of the cost and the consent of the Russians citizens remain open. Consul General expressed gratitude to the Tajik authorities, who reacted with understanding to the current situation and allowed to arrange a temporary import of cars without payment for a period of up to 6 months.

"Russian citizens can leave their cars and return to Russia with repatriation flights," he said, noting that there are much fewer people wishing to leave in cars by land than on airplanes, and urged Russian citizens to take advantage of repatriation flights.

In April, Tajik authorities imposed a temporary ban on the entry and exit to citizens of all foreign countries due to the coronavirus threat. Since March 20, the Tajik authorities have suspended all international flights due to the pandemic. At the same time, the Russian side has already organized a number of repatriation flights to help Russians return to their homeland. In particular, over the past ten days, 783 Russians were delivered from Tajikistan to Russia by seven flights of Ural Airlines, Somon Air, and Tajik Air.