MAY 1 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — State-owned Uzbekistan Airways carried 563,100 passengers in Q1 2017, a 5.1% increase from the same period in 2016, it said in a statement. The increase in passenger numbers is a reflection of a new policy to invest in new aircraft and new routes. Uzbekistan Airways also said that it carried nearly 25% more cargo in Q1 2017 compared to Q1 2016.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 327, published on May 5 2017)
APRIL 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan has taken delivery of a second train from Spain’s Patentes Talgo, media reported, scheduled to run along the recently modernised Tashkent to Bukhara route. The first train was delivered in March under a contract worth 38m euro. Each train carries 287 passengers. The Tashkent to Bukhara route is the second major route in Uzbekistan to deploy high- speed trains. Two similar trains have operated along the Tashkent- Samarkand-Karshi route since 2009. New president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has promised to continue his predecessor’s investment in major infrastructure projects such as high-speed railway.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Tashkent, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that he wanted to see improved ties with Uzbekistan, a boost to new president Shavkat Mirziyoyev who has been trying to woo his neighbours . Relations between Uzbekistan and Turkish had been strained under Mr Mirziyoyev’s predecessor, Islam Karimov, with the Turkish business community in Tashkent, a sizable and influential group, complaining of being unfairly targeted by the authorities.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Arguably the most famous, talked about and least visited museum in Central Asia is going on show in Moscow until May 10.
The Savitsky Collection is usual housed in a museum in Nukus, western Uzbekistan, one of the most remote corners of the world and better-known for the Aral Sea environmental disaster.
Its curator was Igor Savitsky, a Ukrainian archaeologist posted to Nukus who secretly toured the Soviet Union collecting banned artwork.
The exhibition is hosted at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art. Reports said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first to visit.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Car production in Uzbekistan halved in 2016, state-owned Uzavtoprom said, highlighting the problems that one of the country’s most high- profile industries is facing.
Data on car production in Uzbekistan, an important employer around the city of Andijan in the Ferghana Valley, is tightly controlled and for the state’s main car producer to admit that there is a problem means that it is nervous about its future.
Last year the GM Uzbekistan joint venture with US’s GM which is based at the Andijan plant produced 88,200 cars out of total Uzbek car production of 92,625.
There was no comment on the press release, although it was widely cited across Uzbek media.
Last year was a decidedly tough year for the Uzbek car industry. It is reliant for much of its sales on Russia which has been dealing with a recession triggered by a fall in energy prices and by Western imposed sanctions. Sales figures repeatedly reported a drop in demand of around 37%.
GM Uzbekistan also had problems with its distributors in Uzbekistan, with the life.ru website reporting in May 2016 that it may be forced to stop exports to Russia altogether because of the bankruptcy of its partner in the Voronezh region.
Since then, GM Uzbekistan has said that it is starting to export cars to both Tajikistan and Belarus, an apparent attempt to reduce its over- reliance on Russia for its market.
And there was also a corruption scandal that enveloped its top management. This included Tokhirjon Jalilov, who was arrested and sacked as chairman of GM Uzbekistan after allegedly being involved in a scam to sell cars to neighbouring Kazakhstan to a proxy company and then re-importing them back to Uzbekistan where they were sold to consumers.
The accusation was that the company’s management pocketed the difference.
GM owns 25% of GM Uzbekistan and Uzavtoprom owns 75%.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has demoted his longtime colleague Rustam Azimov, sources told the Reuters news agency.
The move appears to be an attempt by Mr Mirziyoyev, in power since the death in September of the cantankerous Islam Karimov, to consolidate both his power and his reputation as Uzbekistan’s moderniser.
Mr Azimov, a deputy PM, had been considered one of the two most influential figures propping up Mr Mirziyoyev. He had previously been finance minister but has now, according to Reuters, been given the job of reorganising the rural economy. The other figure considered powerful in Uzbekistan is Rustam Inoyatov, head of the security services.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will travel to China in mid-May his aides told media. Since taking over as president in September 2016 from Islam Karimov who died of a heart attack, Mr Mirziyoyev has been on a charm offensive to boost relations with his neighbours. China is a critical influence on Central Asia and an important ally for Uzbekistan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved an $80m loan earmarked for the electrification of a 145km stretch of railway in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley. Uzbekistan has been attracting more lending and investment from international financial institutions since Shavkat Mirziyoyev took over as president in September last year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s security services raided internet cafes across the country in an apparent attempt to clampdown on extremist networks, the Eurasianet website reported. Eyewitnesses said that it looked as if the security services were searching through log books and databases looking for signs that extremists had been using internet cafes to spread propaganda. Central Asian governments are under pressure to do more to hit extremist networks after an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz were accused of attacks in Istanbul and St Petersburg this year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 326, published on April 28 2017)
APRIL 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek border guards shot and killed one Tajik shepherd and injured another, shootings that overshadow progress to repair damaged relations. The Tajik authorities accused the Uzbek border guards of crossing the border and illegally shooting the two men. The Uzbek authorities said that the shepherds had crossed into Uzbekistan and attacked the border guard post. Since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became Uzbek president in Sept last year, relations with Tajikistan have improved.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)
