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Afghanistan: Moscow brings back the memories
By Michael Peel in Kabul
May 5, 2014
The Russians are returning to Afghanistan. A quarter of a century after the end of the Soviet occupation, Moscow wants Russian businesses to revive 150 creaking old Soviet-era projects in the country – and help build the economy and security in its regional neighbour.
The pioneer $25m investment is the Kabul Housebuilding Factory, an attempt to capitalise on the enduring popularity of the Afghan capital’s sturdily built Soviet-era apartment complex known as the Macroryan. Moscow is also renovating the imposing green-roofed former Soviet cultural centre and has plans for other ventures, including a giant Kabul breadmaking factory.
These efforts are being overseen by Andrey Avetisyan, Russia’s urbane ambassador to Afghanistan, who was previously posted to Kabul as a young diplomat. After the Soviet retreat, Afghanistan collapsed into a vicious civil war that ended with the Taliban capturing Kabul in 1996 and publicly hanging the Soviet-backed President Mohammad Najibullah.
The country may still be dotted with Soviet tanks and artillery from the struggle with the Mujahideen resistance, but the passage of time has also nurtured a wistful central Asian version of the Ostalgie that enveloped some East Germans after reunification with the West. Even Hamid Karzai, the president, has praised the Soviet Union as “efficient” in its spending – in implied contrast to the multibillion-dollar injection of western money since the US-led invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001.
Some Moscow initiatives have flopped so far, such as an attempt to build an international consortium to renovate the Salang road tunnel through the Hindu Kush. But as western aid projects wind down and Nato prepares to withdraw most of its troops, it is also another reminder of how Afghanistan’s strategic position as a bridge between Europe and Asia will continue to be a magnet for ambitious foreign powers.