Tag Archives: corruption

Business deals cast Uzbekistan into a bad light

SEP. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prosecutors in Sweden have opened an investigation into alleged bribery and money laundering by TeliaSonera, a Swedish telecoms company with businesses across the world, linked to a deal in 2007 to buy a 3G licence in Uzbekistan, media reported.

In the 2007 deal, TeliaSonera bought the licence from a Gibraltar registered company called Takilant for $352m. The Swedish media has speculated that the real owners of Takilant may have had close links to Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan.

TeliaSonera, in which the Swedish government owns 37%, has denied the allegations. The media, though, reported that the company’s CEO, Lars Nyberg, has said he doesn’t know whether people other than the nominal owner of Talikant benefited from the deal or how it came to own the 3G licence in the first place. Swedish media focused on TeliaSonera’s role in the saga, but it also throws more light on how business is conducted in Uzbekistan. And it’s not pretty.

Russian mobile operator MTS is currently fighting allegations of tax avoidance in Uzbekistan and, separately, Swiss authorities have opened a money laundering investigation into four unnamed Uzbek citizens. Corruption allegations over the TeliaSonera/Takilant deal add to this picture.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 106, published on Sep. 28 2012)

Switzerland probes Uzbek money laundering

SEP. 6 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Switzerland have launched a money laundering probe into four unnamed Uzbek nationals, the eurasianet.org website reported. Eurasianet.org quoted the Swiss authorities saying that it had arrested two of the Uzbeks. Major Uzbek businesses have had well-documented links to Switzerland.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 104, published on Sep. 14 2012)

Kyrgyz President asks for coalition

AUG. 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev asked his political party, the Social Democrats, to try to form a new governing coalition in parliament after the collapse last week of a four-party group over corruption allegations, media reported. The Social Democrats have 15 days to form a government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 103, published on Aug. 31 2012)

Kyrgyz PM denies corruption allegations

AUG. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s PM, Omurbek Babanov, has denied allegations that he accepted a racehorse as a bribe in exchange for granting government contracts to a construction firm, media reported. The opposition wants a no-confidence motion against Mr Babanov, which could collapse the ruling coalition.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)

Kyrgyz security service arrests minister

JULY 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Security services in Kyrgyzstan said they have detained the minister for social development, Ravshan Sabirov, for allegedly planning to take a bribe. The day before, the security services said, they arrested Mr Sabirov’s assistant for taking a $10,000 bribe, cash he alleged was going to his boss.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 095, published on July 6 2012)

Uzbekistan deports eight Turkish businessmen

FEB. 21 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Tashkent convicted eight Turkish businessmen of corruption and confiscated their assets. Seven of the businessmen were amnestied and deported to Turkey. One, with joint Uzbek nationality, was sent to prison for three years. The men were arrested last year during raids on a large Tashkent supermarket.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)

UK sentences Kazakh oligarch

FEB. 16 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Britain sentenced Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former CEO of BTA Bank, to 22 months in jail for contempt of court. Ablyazov is accused of embezzling $5b. He fled to London in 2009, claiming political asylum, and has since used it as a base to finance Kazakh opposition groups.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)

Georgia pledges to end corruption

FEB. 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Bank praised Georgia for defeating corruption and said it is an example to other countries in the region. It said that anti-corruption reforms initiated by President Mikheil Saaskashvili have spiked the myth that corruption is cultural and can’t be beaten.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 76, published on Feb. 9 2012)

Tajik police detain officials in drugs bust

Azerbaijan cleared of boxing bribe