Tag Archives: government

Turkmenistan imposes restrictions on Western Union

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Turkmen government has allegedly imposed restrictions on money transfers via the Western Union service at local banks, RFE/RL reported. Under new rules, recipients in Turkmenistan need to provide official documentation to prove their relationship to the sender. Neither the Turkmen government nor Western Union have confirmed the restriction.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Turkmen President sacks officials

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — During a working visit to the north-eastern Lebap province, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked 11 local government officials and reprimanded over a dozen others for failing to keep up with the government’s industrialisation and development plans. Mr Berdymukhamedov has already sacked dozens of public officials this year, in a major restructuring of the country’s regional powerhouses.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Merkel makes trip to Bishkek, praises Kyrgyz democracy

BISHKEK, JULY 13/14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Angela Merkel became the first German leader to visit Kyrgyzstan when she landed in Bishkek on her way to a conference in Mongolia, handing Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev a major PR coup and making him the envy of his neighbours.

Standing next to Mr Atambayev inside the Presidential Residence, Ms Merkel, who had never before visited Central Asia in her 11 years as Germany’s Chancellor, praised Kyrgyzstan’s democratic progress.

“I am very pleased that we’ve now met in Kyrgyzstan, you have twice visited Germany,” she said.

“We have great respect for the path chosen by Kyrgyzstan since 2010. Kyrgyzstan has chosen the path of parliamentary democracy, and needs, of course, to be supported.”

Kyrgyzstan shifted power to parliament from the president in 2010 after a revolution and has since held three national elections — two parliamentary and one presidential — that Western election observers praised as reasonably free and fair. No other country in Central Asia has ever held an election praised by Western observers and commentators suggested Ms Merkel’s stop-over in Kyrgyzstan was a reward of sorts.

But as well as praising Kyrgyzstan for its relative democracy, Ms Merkel also warned Kyrgyz officials to respect the rule of law and human rights.

The day before her arrival, Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial of Azimzhan Askarov, a prominent human rights activist jailed in 2010.

Mr Atambayev said that the two leaders had discussed a variety of subjects, including international terrorism and improving relations between Kyrgyzstan and the EU.

Posters welcoming Ms Merkel adorned Bishkek and most residents were excited about her visit.

Tamara, 59, a Bishkek resident said: “It is such an honour for Kyrgyzstan to host Angela Merkel because she is a great woman-politician, who promoted the idea of hosting Muslim refugees in Europe.”

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Kyrgyz Supreme Court orders retrial for Askarov

BISHKEK, JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial into the sentencing of human rights activist Azimzhan Askarov in 2010 to life in prison for involvement in a murder and for inciting ethnic hatred.

The announcement disappointed human rights activists who have said that Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek, is a political prisoner who was made into a scapegoat after fighting between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh killed at least 400 people. They wanted the

Supreme Court to bow to pressure from the UN and US to release the 65-year-old Askarov.

Askarov’s case has strained relations between Kyrgyzstan and the US, which last year called him a political prisoner.

Analysts in Bishkek have told The Bulletin that the Supreme Court may give in to pressure to hold a retrial but that it would be, politically, very difficult for a court to come to a different outcome at a new trial.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Tajik President appoints new FinMin

JULY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon appointed former deputy Central Banker Umed Latifov to the post of finance minister, replacing Shavkat Sokhibov. Tajikistan’s economy has suffered from a regional economic downturn which has dried up worker remittances from abroad. US-educated Mr Latifov is much younger than his predecessor and has an international profile. His appointment at the Central Bank in May 2015 was his first job in Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Kazakh city government refuses land protest

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The city government of Shymkent, south Kazakhstan, said it rejected an application filed by civic activists to hold a rally against the land reform on July 6. The local government said that the activists had failed to apply on time. Although it has formally been scrapped from parliamentary debate, the proposed land reform is still a contentious issue in Kazakhstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kyrgyz government strips interior ministry of control over powerful units

BISHKEK, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to subvert its growing influence ahead of a presidential election next year, the Kyrgyz government stripped the ministry of interior of some control over its most powerful units.

The reform reshuffled government units, awarding more independence to departments responsible for combating terrorism, drug trafficking and cracking down on economic crimes. The Prosecutor-General has also been stripped of its power to launch independent investigations.

Pres. Almazbek Atambayev said the reforms will strengthen the law.

“Today’s decision can be called historic. The law enforcement system reform should strengthen law and order, so that ordinary citizens, business, and investments are protected by the law,” media quoted him as saying at a government meeting.

Analysts were more circumspect. Bishkek-based political analyst Mars Sariyev said that changes looked designed to subvert an increasingly difficult-to-control security system.

“The security authorities had tried to undermine the power of some interest groups and their political ambitions,” he said.

And another, anonymous, analyst said the changes were probably linked to the departure last month of Melis Turganbayev as Kyrgyzstan’s interior minister who was considered by government ministers as manoeuvring to position himself as a potential next president.

“There is no doubt that he was a very big political figure and that he was probably forced to leave to help bring the ministry of internal affairs more under the control of the government,” he said.

Kyrgyzstan is due to hold a presidential election in 2017.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhtelecom improves corporate governance ahead of a potential IPO

ALMATY, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Aleksander Klebanov, one of Kazakhstan’s richest men, bought a 24.47% stake in Kazakhtelecom, the state-owned telecoms company, in a move to improve corporate governance ahead of a planned IPO in London.

Mr Klebanov’s Sobrio Ltd, a London-registered shelf company, bought shares from two companies officially owned by Aigul Nuriyeva, the 8th richest Kazakh according to Forbes. She was widely perceived as holding these companies on behalf of Mr Klebanov.

Wary of past corporate governance flops, Kazakhtelecom said the transfer of shares would improve transparency ahead of an IPO.

“The deal was conducted for Kazakhtelecom ownership structure optimisation and transparency purposes in preparation for a possible IPO,” the company said in a press release.

For two years, Kazakhtelecom has mulled over an IPO in London.

Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, owns 52% of Kazakhtelecom. Earlier this year, Kazakhtelecom’s subsidiaryAltel merged with Tele2, a Swedish telecoms company, in an effort to boost its mobile profile.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhstan to introduce civil service code

ALMATY, JUNE 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s government said that it wants to introduce a code of conduct focused for its civil servants to improve their image with the public.

Maksat Musin, head of the Kazakh civil service, said in a statement on the government’s website that he wanted the new code to improve standards in general.

“The full aims of the code have not yet been set out but the general principles are already established, these are to be modest and ethical,” he said.

Kazakhstan’s government has previously tried to improve the quality and professionalism of its civil service. In 2013 it introduced a special set of exams to try and recruit a cadre of new, professional civil servants.

Still, ordinary Kazakhs were scornful of the potential decree. They said that the government was fond of making empty policy statements about improving government structures and employees which make little or no impact.

“I think it’s some kind of superficial idea to pretend that the government is doing something,” said Nurbek, an Almaty-based student. “The main problem with our government officials is corruption and this is really bad. That’s what they should be working on instead of pretending that they are doing something.”

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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

Turkmen President continues his firing spree

JUNE 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to to the northern Turkmen province of Dashoguz this month, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov continued his firing spree by sacking seven officials and reprimanding nine others, the local language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Mr Berymukhamedov has sacked dozens of government officials over the past couple of years as he looks to shift blame over an economy that continues to falter.

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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)