Tag Archives: law

Kazakhstan agrees prison officer training deal with UK

AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Kazakhstan aimed at persuading Kazakh companies to list their stocks on the London Stock Exchange, Alan Duncan, the British minister for Europe and the Americas said that he had agreed a deal to help train up Kazakh prison officers. Prison reform is high on the list of changes demanded by human rights activists of Kazakhstan. The country has spent millions on improving conditions but lobby groups say that it still has a long way to go.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Uzbekistan repeals exit visas

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AUG. 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed into law a decree that will scrap exit visas from Jan. 2019, state media reported. Repealing the exit visas is one of the most high-profiles decisions taken by Mr Mirziyoyev who has crafted himself as a moderniser and a reformer since taking over the presidency after the death of Islam Karimov in September 2016.

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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Uzbekistan says to scrap exit visas

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TASHKENT, AUG. 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan will lift exit-visa requirements, media reported by quoting officials, potentially making it easier for millions of Uzbeks to travel abroad to find work.

Exit-visas are a hated hangover from the Soviet Union and, even if they were not difficult to obtain for most ordinary Uzbeks, were a reminder of the authoritarian nature of the regime. Scrapping them is another indication of the liberal reforms ushered in by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president since September 2016 when Islam Karimov died. He has also promised to change foreign currency controls and also to encourage more foreign investment, as well as relax social controls, such as laws stipulating when bars and restaurants have to close.

Uzbekistan, like the rest of Central Asia, is reliant on remittances sent back from Uzbeks working abroad to bolster its economy. Most of these remittance payments are sent back to Uzbekistan from Russia.

Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said a presidential decree on relaxing exit visas had already been drafted and government agencies were considering various pieces of legislation.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Uzbek officials consider easing cafe curfew

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TASHKENT, JULY 20 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek officials said they would consider softening restrictions on cafe and restaurant opening times, a curfew blamed for stunting the development of Uzbekistan’s nightlife.

Although officials didn’t give any details, cafe owners and staff welcomed the news as another step towards opening up Uzbekistan since the death last year of President Islam Karimov. A waitress who works at a small summer cafe in Tashkent told a Bulletin correspondent that she currently closes the cafe when it is still full of customers.

“We have to close at a very time when we have a good flow of clients,” she said.

Local bars and restaurants in Tashkent are, officially at least, only allowed to open until 11pm, cutting the evenings short. In neighbouring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, restaurants and cafes stay open late.

Not that the rules are applied evenly, an employee at another Tashkent restaurant explained.

“If you have money and powerful contacts you can freely serve the clients at any time of the day. All you have to do is to please the police and other officials,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Tajikistan sets up fashion commission

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JULY 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Concerned about so-called ‘Alien’ clothing, the Tajik government has set up a special commission to persuade ordinary Tajiks to dress in traditional clothes, media reported. Officials in Tajikistan are worried about the spread of extremist Islam and have waged various campaigns against beards that they consider to be too long and also against women’s clothes considered to be too conservative, such as the hijab.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Uzbekistan to reform tax collection system

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JULY 19 2017 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have said that they intend to reform the country’s tax system in line with a swathe of liberalisations across the country. It is unclear what officials meant by this but media reported that the government wanted to increase the amount of tax collected and cut down on corruption.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Uzbekistan banns foreign songs

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JULY 4 2017 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have banned local singers from covering foreign songs, the US-funded RFE/RL report by quoting government officials, possibly an attempt to exert more control over Uzbek culture. Last month, the Uzbek authorities also ruled that musicians needed to ask for permission before posting their music videos online. The apparent need to exert more control and authority over Uzbek culture contrasts with a more relaxed stance towards business under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Kazakhstan strips IS fighters of citizenship

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JUNE 22 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament approved a bill that will strip people accused of fighting for the extremist IS group in Syria and Iraq of their citizenship. The Kazakh authorities are increasingly worried about returnees from Syria and Iraq spreading radical ideology and fighting techniques if, and when, they move back to Kazakhstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Georgia starts processing law to ban foreigners from owning land

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TBILISI, JUNE 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s parliament started processing a law that will forbid foreigners from owning farmland, despite warnings from experts that the ban will stunt the growth of the agriculture sector.

The Georgian Dream government dominates parliament and has said that it is bringing in the law because of the pressure on farmland, although opponents have said that its main aim is to roll back another key policy of former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Levan Davitashvili, the minister of agriculture, said that under the new legislation foreigners would only be allowed to own land if they inherited it, if they married into it or if they already had a permanent residence or an investment permit.

“Land is a particularly limited resource and, with the population growth, land resources are becoming more significant and valuable,” media quoted him as saying. “It is crucial that agricultural land has to be for Georgian citizens and they have to have the property rights.”

When he was in power between 2003 and 2013, Mr Saakahvili had courted Afrikaans to move to Georgia from South Africa, promising them access to good farmland. He followed this up with campaigns to persuade Indian farmers to also move to Georgia too. Essentially he wanted the expertise and investment potential the foreign farmers would bring.

But alongside the expertise, the farmers from South Africa and India generated resentment and frustration from locals, something that the Georgian Dream picked up on and campaigned to change.

After winning a majority of MPs in Parliament in 2012, the Georgian Dream brought in a moratorium to suspend the sale of farmland to foreigners. This moratorium was declared unconstitutional in Dec. 2014 and revoked.

Earlier this month, with the Georgian Dream now dominating Parliament, constitutional amendments were passed banning land sales to foreigners. The new law being discussed, though, will come into play before constitutional amendments.

Phatima Mamardashvili, head of the Agricultural Policy Research Centre, said the ban was negative.

“Our agriculture is so unproductive. We should welcome any investment,” she told The Bulletin. “Foreign investor bring knowledge, capital, new technology. These new limitations are negative. foreign investment flow will be reduced. Georgia will be a less attractive market.”

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Turkmen Pres. Berdymukhamedov cuts subsidies to save money

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JUNE 6 2017 (The Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered his government to scrap all subsidies on household utilities, immediately drawing accusations that he was losing control of the economy.

In a surprise statement, the presidential press service said that Mr Berdymukhamedov had ordered parliament to cut the Soviet-era subsidies because they were “ineffective”.

Quoting official news sources, news agencies said that Mr Berdymukhamedov had ordered his government to cancel all subsidies except “for the most needy”.

Turkmenistan’s economy has been strained for the past three years, ever since energy prices started to collapse, and commentators said that a lack of funds and not any root and branch change of economic strategy was behind the move.

Turkmenistan holds the world’s fourth largest gas reserves. The vast majority of its foreign earnings come from selling this gas, mainly to China. The drop in gas prices has hit this income stream hard and although Mr Berdymukhamedov has never admitted as such, it has dented the economy. In 2015, the Turkmen currency was devalued by a third.

At the start of this year, Turkmenistan accused Iran of not settling a debt that it said it was still and in the last few months Mr Berdymukhamedov has embarked on a series cabinet reshuffles and sackings that analysts said hinted at panic and frustration over the economic turmoil.

Under Mr Berdymukhamedov, state subsidies in Turkmenistan have gradually been eroded. The subsidies have their roots in the Soviet Union which made a point of giving electricity, heating and water virtually away for free.

Turkmenistan is trying to extend its energy customer base to India and Pakistan via the so-called TAPI pipeline, and also to negotiate a way to sell gas to Europe via the South Caucasus energy corridor.

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