NOV. 26-30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy representative, completed a whirlwind tour of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. On her travels she met with opposition leaders as well as the heads of states. Her office said she discussed bilateral cooperation as well as human rights.
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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)
NOV. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Fuel shortages are creating frustration and long queues outside petrol stations in Uzbekistan, local media reported. The scenario is a repeat of last year. The actual trigger for the shortages is unclear although most people blame a combination of poor infrastructure and official corruption.
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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)
Nov. 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Local media quoted sources in the Uzbek government as saying that the Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will finance part of a $168m scheme to modernise two hydropower plants near Tashkent. The IDB has not confirmed the finance deal which some media said would total $100m.
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(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)
NOV. 8 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – An Uzbek court overturned a ruling ordering the state to confiscate the local assets of Russian mobile operator MTS. The surprise ruling could allow MTS’s local subsidiary, Uzdunrobita, to resume operations. Uzdunrobita stopped operations in August after prosecutors accused it of a series of tax violations.
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(News report from Issue No. 112, published on Nov. 9 2012)
NOV. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek authorities sentenced three women to jail for spying for neighbouring Tajikistan, local media reported. Relations between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have been increasingly strained over the past few years, most recently because of Tajik plans to build a dam to generate electricity.
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(News report from Issue No. 112, published on Nov. 9 2012)
NOV. 2 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Investigators in Moscow seized an apartment belonging to Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s president, media reported. Media outlets said the seizure of Ms Karimova’s apartment, which is reportedly worth $10m, was designed to counter pressure in Uzbekistan on Russian mobile operator MTS.
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(News report from Issue No. 112, published on Nov. 9 2012)
OCT. 29 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It may seem routine between neighbours but a phone call by Tajik president Emmomali Rakhmon to his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, is significant. The two leaders barely talk and tension between the countries has been rising. Quoting the Tajik presidential press service, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported the telephone call on Oct. 29.
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(News report from Issue No. 111, published on Nov. 2 2012)
NOV. 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov, has just launched a perfume and released a new pop song but media reports say that this has not sated her and she is now planning to produce a film. Human rights activists have accused Mr Karimov of various abuses, allegations he denies.
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(News report from Issue No. 111, published on Nov. 2 2012)
OCT. 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It may have been grand-standing, but it was still clear that Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon was pleased.
Mr Rakhmon was opening a new tunnel under a treacherous mountain road that links the north of Tajikistan to the south, when, according to the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, he said that this was now the shortest route between Asia and Europe.
He was wrong, of course, but the Shakhristan Tunnel is still important. Not only does it improve journey times between Dushanbe, the capital, and Khujand, the second city, but this 5km-long tunnel under the Pamir mountains also underlines China’s commitment to the region.
With funds from Beijing, a Chinese company built the tunnel under a pass which is often closed by snow in the heavy winter months.
Tunnel projects in Tajikistan form just one part of China’s regional strategy. It is investing heavily in Central Asia, building relations by improving transport links, handing out cheap loans and buying up resources.
Across the border from where Mr Rakhmon was admiring his new tunnel, the Uzbek government was also thanking Beijing. It had just borrowed $220m to modernise a heating plant in Tashkent.
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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)
