DEC. 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp sacked three executives for their role in alleged bribe paying in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to win contracts, media reported. The news once again highlights a culture of corruption that still exists in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
DEC. 7 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It is dry, that’s for sure, but Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index is also a decent benchmark of how countries are dealing with corruption in their systems — an issue that foreign investors, local businessmen, politicians and economists follow closely.
The 2012 edition makes for interesting reading on Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Topping the table for the region is, again, Georgia at 51st place in the 176 country list. Armenia is next at 105th position, alongside the likes of the Philippines and Mexico.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan occupy 133 position with Russia and then follows Kyrgyzstan (154) and Tajikistan (157). Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan prop up the table in 170th position. Behind them lie only Somalia, North Korea, Sudan, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
And the big changes from last year? Well, Georgia continues to rise through the ranks, it was placed in 64th position last year, and Armenia has also jumped forward, from 129th in 2011. Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have also improved their rankings, slightly.
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have remained fairly consistent.
By comparison, though, the biggest faller from the Central Asia and South Caucasus region was Kazakhstan which fell 13 places in the rankings from 120th position in 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
DEC. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz police arrested the former head of its national resource agency, Uchkunbek Tashbayev, for bribe taking and embezzlement, media reported. The case, once again, demonstrates corruption in Kyrgyzstan. Mining is one of the few sectors in Kyrgyzstan that generates a sizable income for the economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
Nov. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police arrested the head of south Kyrgyzstan’s anti-drugs unit, Eldar Kudaiberdiyev, for bribe- taking, media reported. The arrest underlines the extent of corruption in Kyrgyzstan. This year a ruling parliamentary coalition collapsed, partly because of corruption allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)
OCT. 29 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In televised comments, Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan accused some state prosecutors and police of being corrupt and having links to criminal gangs. Political commentators said Mr Sargsyan’s unusually strong comments could be political and timed for a presidential election set for Feb. 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 111, published on Nov. 2 2012)
OCT. 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – An appeal court in Uzbekistan upheld accusations from the financial police of tax evasion by UzCarlsberg, the Uzbek subsidiary of Danish brewer Carlsberg, local media reported. Production at UzCarlsberg, which employs 400 people, has ceased since mid-June. Western businesses have previously complained that the Uzbek authorities pressure successful businesses through tax claims.
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(News report from Issue No. 109, published on Oct. 19 2012)
OCT. 11 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gulnara Karimova, the 40-year-old daughter of Uzbek president, leads a glitzy lifestyle. In September, she released a new pop song and this month she launched her own perfume.
Now, though, Ms Karimova has been indirectly linked to a money laundering investigation in Switzerland that focuses on four Uzbek nationals.
Publicly accessible documents in France, unearthed by Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra and reported on by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, showed that on at least one occasion Ms Karimova co-signed a document for property in the south of France with Alisher Ergashev, one of two Uzbek men detained in Geneva in July by investigators.
It’s also emerged that another of the Uzbek nationals being investigated in Switzerland is Gayane Avakyan, an ethnic Armenian woman closely linked to Ms Karimova.
Aside from the Swiss investigation, Ms Avakyan is also one of the main protagonists in a deal Swedish prosecutors are looking into. In the 2007/8 deal, Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera bought an Uzbek 3G mobile licence from Gibraltar-registered Takilant. TeliaSonera has denied any wrong-doing, but Swedish prosecutors are investigating irregularities.
Both the investigations, and Ms Karimova’s glitzy lifestyle, continue.
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(News report from Issue No. 109, published on Oct. 19 2012)
OCT. 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – British police detained Maksim Bakiyev, son of former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, after the US issued an extradition request. The US wants to prosecute Mr Bakiyev for financial crimes. Since a revolution in 2011, Kyrgyzstan has wanted the Bakiyevs sent back to Bishkek to face various charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 109, published on Oct. 19 2012)
OCT. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s parliament has thrown out Gular Ahmadova, the MP filmed trying to organise a bribe from a businessman in exchange for a seat in the legislature, media reported. The video, filmed in 2005, has shaken the Azerbaijani political establishment. Ms Ahmadova had been a relatively prominent figure in the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party.
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(News report from Issue No. 107, published on Oct. 5 2012)
SEP. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani opposition newspaper, Azadliq, published online a video allegedly showing a member of parliament, Gular Ahmadova, discussing the bribe a businessman would have to pay to win a seat in the national legislature. The prosecutor-general has pledged to investigate the allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 106, published on Sep. 28 2012)
