MOSCOW: Russian officials threatened to ban trains entering Russia from Tajikistan yetserday, complaining that sleeper trains heading to Moscow from the Central Asian country were unacceptably dirty and posed a health risk.
The border service also expressed concerns over rampant drug smuggling.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, after inspecting a train, said that “this train in principle must not be allowed into Russia,” at a meeting of the government border commission, cited by the Itar-Tass news agency.
“You feel like it is a serious threat to the sanitary health of the whole nation, the technical state of the train just does not stand up to any criticism, it is dismal.”
He called for another meeting in a month’s time to discuss a ban.
Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko told Russian media about the health “risks” of the trains.
AFP
