NOV. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan has introduced new regulation that, in theory, makes it harder to launder money and finance terrorism, media reported. Under the new rules, individual transactions of over $4,000 trigger a red flag, a tenth of the previous amount.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan remains one of the most corrupt countries on the plant. In its 2013 index, the anti-corruption lobby group Transparency International ranked Uzbekistan at 168th position alongside Turkmenistan and Syria. Only a selection of war ravished and awkward countries, including Afghanistan and North Korea, rank lower.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tax inspectors in Uzbekistan have surprised observers by apparently pulling back from prosecuting Russia’s VimpelCom for tax evasion.
A report by the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti quoted a source from the Uzbek tax committee as saying that a two-month long investigation had found no violations.
“The inspection is complete. The company has received a resolution with some criticism but no violations of the tax legislation have been found,” an unnamed source at the Uzbek tax authorities told RIA-Novosti.
This will come as a relief to VimpelCom executives who must have feared at one point that they would be going the way of their Russian rival MTS which had to quit Uzbekistan earlier this year after a similar tax case ended in charges.
VimpelCom operates in Uzbekistan under its Beeline brand name. With roughly 55% of the country’s 19m mobile users, it is the largest mobile provider in Uzbekistan.
No details of why tax inspectors dropped the case against VimpelCom have been released.
No doubt there were behind-the-scenes negotiations between VimpelCom and the Uzbek authorities and between Russian and Uzbek officials, but we don’t know the details of what was agreed. Throughout, VimpelCom have denied the charges and said that it is the victim of an elaborate shake-down by the authorities, something they are renowned for.
Regardless, it will be a relief for investors in Uzbekistan generally. They have increasingly complained of Uzbekistan’s difficult business climate.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Completing the fall of the former high-flying politician Gular Akhmadova, a court in Baku sentenced her to three years in prison for corruption.
A video of Akhmadova organising a $1m bribe to arrange for Elshad Abdullayev, formerly the owner of a university in Azerbaijan, to win a parliamentary seat at an election in 2005 surfaced last year and handed her instant notoriety.
The case captivated ordinary Azerbaijanis as it gave them a rare inside glimpse of corruption by members of the political elite. Media dubbed the case “Gulargate”.
Corruption is rife in Azerbaijan, business and politics mix casually and bribes are exchanged regularly, but it is rare for a case to play out so publicly.
Ahkmadova entered parliament in 2000 and held her seat until the ruling New Azerbaijan Party expelled her because of the corruption scandal last year. She was known as a stalwart party loyalist and, clearly, was able to arrange for wealthy people to win parliamentary seats in return for a bribe.
It’s unclear how many times previously, Akhmadova had sold parliamentary seats but it is clear something went badly wrong with this deal. Mr Abdullayev, the professor/businessman, didn’t end up with the seat and instead had the licence to his university revoked. He is now living in exile in France from where he published videos of his negotiations with Akhmadova, presumably as revenge.
And Akhmadova has form. She’s also hated by Azerbaijan’s marginalised opposition groups.
In March 2013, the authorities sentenced Avaz Zeynally, editor of an independent newspaper to nine years in prison for extortion, charges international groups said were false and politically motivated.
His accuser was Akhmadova.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
NOV. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Kyrgyzstan arrested Akmatbek Keldibekov, an opposition leader, for alleged abuse of office and corruption. The arrest of Mr Keldibekov triggered demonstrations calling for his release. Kyrgyzstan is polarised between the pro-government north and the opposition stronghold in the south.
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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Corruption has derailed a 195b tenge ($1.3b) government programme to bring drinking water to villages across Kazakhstan, media quoted Askhat Bekanov, a member of parliament, as saying. Mr Bekanov said in the Aktau region, for example, only six of the 300 villages that needed water system upgrades had received them.
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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 7 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek Prosecutor-General’s office said it was investigating the alleged kidnapping last year of an employee of Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov. Observers said the case may be designed to heap more pressure on Ms Karimova who is embroiled in a battle to keep assets and influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)
OCT. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tax police have started an investigation into the finances of The Forum of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan, a charity linked to Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, media reported. The investigation may be aimed at unsettling Ms Karimova, part of a wider power struggle in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The three founders of Kazakhstan-based miner ENRC have applied to de-list the company from the London Stock Exchange (LSE), media reported. The so-called ENRC Trio — Alexander Machkevitch, Alijan Ibragimov and Pathokh Chodiev — want to pull ENRC from the LSE after a series of corporate governance scandals.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) –Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned 152 prisoners, including ex-economy minister Farhad Aliyev, to mark the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, media reported. Mr Aliyev was jailed in 2005 for corruption. Some analysts interpreted his release as a softening of President Aliyev’s stance towards his opponents.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
