Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

French documents link the Uzbek president’s daughter to a Swiss financial investigation

OCT. 11 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gulnara Karimova, the 40-year-old daughter of Uzbek president, leads a glitzy lifestyle. In September, she released a new pop song and this month she launched her own perfume.

Now, though, Ms Karimova has been indirectly linked to a money laundering investigation in Switzerland that focuses on four Uzbek nationals.

Publicly accessible documents in France, unearthed by Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra and reported on by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, showed that on at least one occasion Ms Karimova co-signed a document for property in the south of France with Alisher Ergashev, one of two Uzbek men detained in Geneva in July by investigators.

It’s also emerged that another of the Uzbek nationals being investigated in Switzerland is Gayane Avakyan, an ethnic Armenian woman closely linked to Ms Karimova.

Aside from the Swiss investigation, Ms Avakyan is also one of the main protagonists in a deal Swedish prosecutors are looking into. In the 2007/8 deal, Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera bought an Uzbek 3G mobile licence from Gibraltar-registered Takilant. TeliaSonera has denied any wrong-doing, but Swedish prosecutors are investigating irregularities.

Both the investigations, and Ms Karimova’s glitzy lifestyle, continue.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 109, published on Oct. 19 2012)

Karimov visits Azerbaijan

OCT. 11 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov continued his diplomatic push across Central Asia and the South Caucasus by visiting Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev. Since the start of September, Mr Karimov, normally one of the more stand-offish regional leaders, has already visited Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 108, published on Oct. 12 2012)

Uzbek President visits Turkmenistan

OCT. 2 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Apparently keen to improve relations with neighbours, Uzbek president Islam Karimov made a rare visit to Turkmenistan a month after he had made an equally rare visit to Kazakhstan. Media reported that Mr Karimov and Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov discussed regional security and transport issues.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 107, published on Oct. 5 2012)

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)

Uzbek court troubles MTS

SEP. 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Uzbekistan has sentenced four managers at Uzdunrobita, a subsidiary of Russian mobile operator MTS, to up to 2-1/2 years in prison, media quoted MTS as saying. Uzbek officials have confiscated Uzdunrobita’s property and cancelled its licence. They said Uzdunrobita has avoided paying taxes and broken its contract.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 105, published on Sep. 21 2012)

Uzbekistan seizes MTS assets

SEP. 2 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Uzbekistan ordered the authorities to seize the assets of Russian mobile operator MTS’s local subsidiary, Uzdunrobita, media reported. The Uzbek authorities accuse Uzdunrobita of tax evasion and breaking its contract. Uzdunrobita denies the charges and says the government is trying to steal its assets.

ENDS

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

MTS woes hit profit in Uzbekistan

AUG. 28 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile operator MTS said that a row with the Uzbek authorities had knocked $1.1b off its profit in the second quarter of the year. Earlier this month a court in Uzbekistan revoked MTS’s operating licence. MTS had over 9m subscribers in Uzbekistan. It has said the move is an attempt to steal its business.

ENDS

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

US official visits Uzbek capital

AUG. 15 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake met Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Tashkent to discuss ongoing plans for the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan through Uzbekistan in 2014, media reported. Uzbekistan is a controversial partner for the US because of concerns about it human rights record.

ENDS

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

Olympic results for Central Asia and S.Caucasus

AUG. 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – At the Olympic Games in London, Kazakhstan wanted to beat their previous best medals haul of three golds from both Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. They did, easily, with seven gold medals in cycling, weightlifting, long jump and boxing.

Kazakhstan was placed twelfth in the rankings, with the same gold medal haul as Australia. For the others, the Games were less successful.
Turkmenistan failed to win a medal and one of its boxing referees was sent home after

failing to stop a one-sided fight. An Uzbek gymnast faced even greater humiliation after she was disqualified for doping. Uzbekistan did win one gold medal in the men’s wrestling. There were no golds for either Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, although a Tajik woman won a boxing bronze.

Azerbaijan had talked up their boxing hopes before the Games but the best it could manage was a bronze medal. They also had one coach sent home for cheating. In wrestling Azerbaijan won two golds along with another two silver and three bronze medals.

Georgia won its gold medal in judo . Neighbouring Armenia won three medals, but no gold.

ENDS

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