Tag Archives: government

Azerbaijan’s energy minister dies

JUNE 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s long-serving energy minister, Natig Aliyev, died in a hospital in Istanbul from a heart attack. Aliyev had the heart attack in Baku at the end of the previous week and was then flown to specialist hospital in Istanbul. He had been energy minister since 2005, although he generally played a less prominent role in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas affairs than President Ilham Aliyev and the head of state- owned SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Uzbek President outmaneuvers Karimov’s heir

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JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s vicious political scene has just spat out another top dog. Rustam Azimov, the former collective farm engineer has been a fixture at the top of the Uzbek political spectrum since 1998, when he was handpicked by former president Islam Karimov, Uzbek leader from 1991 until his death in September, to head the economy ministry. Considered one of Karimov’s favourites, Azimov had been thought by many as the most likely person to succeed his patron.

In January 2008, in a diplomatic note later leaked by Wikileaks, the US ambassador to Uzbekistan at the time Richard Norland wrote that Azimov was being groomed as a successor.

“Azimov’s star is rising. Being appointed first among deputy ministers will only fuel additional speculation that Azimov may eventually succeed Karimov,” he wrote.

Media reports from 2012, cited sources within the Uzbek government as saying that Karimov was now openly talking up Azimov as his successor.

Instead, his rival Shavkat Mirziyoyev has outmanoeuvred him and Azimov now finds himself in the lowly position of heading the Export- Import Insurance company. His political ambitions, like that of Karimov’s daughter Gulnara, who has been under house arrest since 2014, are surely over.

It has been a long-running rivalry between Azimov and Mirziyoyev. In May 2008, Norland wrote that the rivalry had become so bad that the Uzbek security services had invented information to present a more united front.

“Due to rumours that rivalries persist between Prime Minister Mirziyayev (sic) and First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov, the NSS (the Uzbek security service) also had fabricated information that both individuals had reached a rapprochement prompted by the burgeoning friendship between their wives,” he wrote.

Considered a smooth operator with a calmer temperament than the sometimes abrasive Mirziyoyev, Azimov also had plenty of experience dealing with foreign companies, often negotiating their entry into Uzbekistan on behalf of Karimov.

Prior to taking over as economy minister in 1998, Azimov was head of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity. Now, aged only 56, as head of the nonentity that is the Export- Import Insurance company, he will have plenty of time to rue opportunities missed in the battle to succeed Karimov.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Comment: Authority figures and democracy

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EDINBURGH, JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — This past week, politics in Britain have been overshadowed by the election meltdown and loss of authority of the British PM, Theresa May. She went from having a 20 point lead in opinion polls only two months ago to a single digit lead over Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, on election day. She won, but was returned a much diminished figure.

This is a stark contrast to the strongmen that rule Central Asia, where the democratic touch is so light. That doesn’t mean, though, that there isn’t plenty of political intrigue to enjoy and saviour in the region.

And this week has given us the story of how Shavkat Mirziyoyev has undone one of his key rivals for power, former economy minister Rustam Azimov. Once a potential Second President of Uzbekistan, he now finds himself heading up an entity called the Export-Import Bank. A story of power-plays and, possibly, betrayal.

There has been an apparent growth in grassroots movements in Uzbekistan. Our new correspondent reports from Tashkent on what has been described as the biggest protest in the country for 12 years. It’s great reporting on a very important story.

In Georgia and Azerbaijan the case of the abducted journalist continues to cause the authorities discomfort, as does the reminder that Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge is still an IS recruitment area.

On the business front, we report on China’s first foray into Kazakhstan’s banking sector and on olive oil production in Georgia.

Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev sacks rival Azimov as deputy PM

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TASHKENT, JUNE 6 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev sacked deputy PM Rustam Azimov from his government, showing his ruthlessness in undermining potential rivals .

Mr Azimov had at one time been talked of as a potential successor for Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan since independence from the Soviet Union until his death in September 2016. His ambitions were undone, however, by the rise of Mr Mirziyoyev who had been PM under Karimov. Mr Azimov had been economy minister but was downgraded to foreign investment minister in December.

Local media reported, quoting government sources, that Azimov would now head the Export-Import Insurance company, a major demotion. He was to be replaced by as deputy PM by the relatively unknown deputy finance minister Jamshid Kuchkarov.

Immediately after the death of Karimov, Azimov had been considered one of the three most powerful people in Uzbekistan, alongside Mr Mirziyoyev and security chief Rustam Inoyatov. His demotion marks a victory for Mr Mirziyoyev who was always wary of his rival.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Uzbek Parliament approves new CB chief

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JUNE 6 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s parliament approved the relatively unknown Mamarizo Nurmuratov as the new Central Bank chairman. He had been chairman of the Senate’s budget and economic reforms committee. His appointment, as a replacement for Faizulla Mullajanov who died after 26 years in the post, highlights the relative junior nature of the Central Bank chief in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Turkmen President sacks Supreme Court chief

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JUNE 2 2017 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked the head of the Supreme Court, Begench Charyev, just the latest in a string of high-profile sackings that he has made this year. State-owned media did not give a reason for Mr Charyev’s sacking. He had been head of the Supreme Court since September 2013. Gylychmyrat Halliyev director of the Turkmen National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights was appointed the new Supreme Court chief.

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(News report from Issue No. 331, published on June 5 2017)

Comment: A quick week in Kazakhstan

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ASTANA/ALMATY, MAY 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gripes about the economy dominated my week in Astana and Almaty. Not gripes from officials but gripes from ordinary Kazakhs who are feeling the pinch.

Still, Astana and Almaty felt upbeat.

Astana was busy putting the final touches on EXPO-2017, an event it has been building towards for several years. It’s with brash civic pride that people living in Astana tell you that the world is going to visit their city this summer. We shall see.

Not that I could have a look around EXPO-2017 when I was there. They weren’t ready yet for visitors, including journalists, despite advertising that the media centre and accreditation desks were open for business.

If Astana was full of brash pride about the multi-billion-dollar government-funded EXPO-2017, Almaty’s pride lies in its more sanguine nature. I arrived off the overnight train from Astana. After a few days of interviews in Astana I was ready to see friends and the Bulletin’s correspondent in Almaty.

And May is a perfect time to visit Kazakhstan’s former capital. It’s warm, but not too hot, and the trees and flowers are blooming. The warmer air has also lifted the smog, giving visitors’ glimpses of Almaty’s regal snow-capped mountains.

Almaty oozes a breezy, louche confidence whereas Astana seems to crave attention and praise.

Astana grabs the headlines and improves with every visit I make. Almaty, though, has always had it and always will. And it knows this too.

By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Kyrgyz PM to run for presidency

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BISHKEK, MAY 18 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ruling Social Democratic party picked current PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov to be its candidate in a presidential election in Kyrgyzstan later this year, a decision that an analyst said confirmed the government’s pro-Russia bent.

Parliament also voted to move forward the presidential election date to Oct. 15 from Nov. 19.

A Central Asian political analyst said that the appointment of Mr Jeenbekov as the Social Democrat’s candidate showed that the party was increasingly in hoc to the Kremlin.

“He’s considered soft on Russia,” the analyst said, asking not to be named. “The Social Democrats nearly appointed a pro-Western candidate but it looks like the Kremlin intervened and they have now gone for Russia’s man.”

Rumors prior to Mr Jeenbekov being given the candidature had suggested that President Almazbek Atambayev’s chief of staff, Sapar Issakov, would be the likely candidate. He is considered pro-Western.

Mr Atambayev is stepping down after a single term in office, as stipulated by the constitution.

His detractors, though have said that he may be lining himself up to become PM at an election scheduled for next year. The Kyrgyz constitution is being changed to shift power from the president to the PM’s office.

As the Social Democrats’ candidate, Mr Jeenbekov is now the front- runner to succeed Mr Atambayev.

But it’s likely to be a competitive and tightly-fought election, and not a foregone conclusion, in what is considered Central Asia’s most vibrant democracy. Former PMs Temir Sariyev and Omurbek Babanov have also said that they will compete in the election.

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(News report from Issue No. 329, published on May 20 2017)

Domestic violence law in Kyrgyzstan becomes strengthened

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APRIL 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev signed into law a bill that is designed to strengthen legislation against domestic violence. The new law obliges police to investigate all reports of domestic violence even if the complaint was not filed by the victim.

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(News report from Issue No. 327, published on May 5 2017)

Convicted terrorists in Kazakhstan to lose citizenship

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APRIL 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh MPs passed into law a bill that will strip people convicted of terrorism of their citizenship. Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia have been fighting to dampen a flow of recruits to the extremist IS group over the past few years. The main suspects behind an attack in Istanbul and St Petersburg this year were from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)