On 26 May tickets for making a Western Union money transfer were distributed in “Garagum” bank in Dashoguz. The tickets, which can be used by Turkmenistan residents to transfer $100, were valid for October and later, until December 2018.
Customer tickets are not handed out every day, and the date where they can be collected is announced in advance. This results in huge crowds forming in front of bank offices 24 hours before the announced date. Rural inhabitants come to the provincial capitals to collect tickets.
In order to avoid a large number of people queuing in front of the banks, tickets were distributed from 3 a.m.
According to correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, after a woman was crushed to death in a similar crowd two weeks ago, a much larger number of police officers was deployed to the bank to organize the queue and prevent disorder.
Residents were advised to congregate 100 meters from the bank, in separate queues for men and women, and were given access to the bank in groups of 10 people through a live corridor made up of law enforcement officers.
Thanks to this, the crowd was controlled, despite the huge number of those wishing to obtain a ticket.
In view of the economic crisis, Turkmenistan’s national currency is depreciating at an accelerating pace.
The authorities have banned free currency conversion, trying to maintain the official exchange rate at 3.5 manats per dollar.This has resulted in the emergence of “a currency black market” where the dollar exchange rate has reached 20-22 manats, which is six times higher than the official rate.
Only restricted amounts of money can be transferred overseas (send in manats and withdraw in local currency, at the official rate).
This is creating problems for parents of study-abroad students.