After covering the Tajik president's tour of the country's northern province of Sughd a year ago, blogger Rustam Gulov (aka Teocrat) now reports [ru] about the preparations that the provincial authorities are making for a new visit of the president:

Khujand [Sughd's capital] prepares to welcome the president again. Banners, posters, and fixed roads [are there] again. I can only be happy about the latter! I would love to see the president come to Khujand as often as possible – this would force the authorities to fix the roads. It is a pity, however, that only part of the city's roads are fixed – that part along which the president's cortege will travel. The rest of the roads have been neglected for years.