Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

French foreign minister visits Uzbekistan

APRIL 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Tashkent, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault discussed improving security relations with Uzbekistan. Mr Ayrault is the most senior Western government official to visit Uzbekistan since Shavkat Mirziyoyev took over as president in September 2016. He has opened up the country to the West, including persuading the EBRD to start investing in Uzbekistan once again.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

Uzbek president sacks privatisation head

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APRIL 14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev fired the head of the government’s privatisation committee, Davron Hidoyatov, shortly after criticising him for not attracting enough foreign investment. The sacking of Mr Hidoyatov is part of Mr Mirziyoyev’s drive to freshen up his government’s approach to pulling in foreign investment. Mr Hidoyatov had been given the job in December 2014 by former president Islam Karimov.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

Money changers still operate in Uzbekistan

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TASHKENT, APRIL 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Money changers still hawk for custom outside nearly all markets and shopping malls in Uzbekistan despite reports of a crackdown on the trade that has become a part of the Uzbek scene over the past 25 years.

A correspondent for the Conway Bulletin said that he had received around double the official Uzbek som/US dollar exchange rate on the Black Market. The Uzbek government has been devaluing the Uzbek som by around 1.4% per week since September last year. It now measures around 3,650 som.

Last month reports appeared that Uzbek police had been arresting money changers at some of Tashkent’s biggest markets. The Conway Bulletin correspondent, though, reported that money changers appeared to be operating with impunity, touting for business across the capital.

At rural markets, the correspondent said money changers carried wads of cash in bags and openly haggled with people looking to change som into US dollars.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

After 25 years, Uzbek Air flies to Dushanbe

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DUSHANBE, APRIL 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After three aborted attempts blamed on a variety of different issues, Uzbekistan Airways made its first flight between Tashkent and Dushanbe for 25 years.

A spokesman at Dushanbe Airport said that the Uzbekistan Airways flight had landed at 8.03am local time. Earlier in the year a flight by the privately-owned Somon Air landed at Tashkent airport from Dushanbe.

The resumption of flights between the two capitals was considered a vital sign of improved relations between the neighbours. Uzbekistan Airways has said that it now intends to fly between Tashkent and Dushanbe twice a week.

Under Uzbek president Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan perused an isolationist policy, especially with regards to Tajikistan which he viewed virtually as a pariah state.

Karimov was particularly incensed by plans drawn up by his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmon, to build a dam across rivers that feed Uzbekistan’s cotton fields. His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been more avuncular and has patched up damaged relations.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Uzbekistan to upgrade plastics plant

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APRIL 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — State-owned Uzbekneftegaz plans a $400m expansion of its Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex in the south of the country, media reported by quoting officials from the plant. The plant is one of the biggest employers in the region and its expansion mirrors President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s call to boost industry and create more jobs. Media reports said that the expansion plan aims to boost output to 200,000 tonnes of polyethylene, a plastic, up from 75,000 tonnes currently.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Lukoil hits gas production landmark in Uzbekistan

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APRIL 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s Lukoil said it had reached what it described as a landmark production level of 40b cubic metres of gas at its projects in Uzbekistan, more than two-thirds of total Uzbek gas output. It said that most of this gas was produced at its two fields near Bukhara — Khauzak-Shady and Kuvachi-Alat. Lukoil is one of Uzbekistan’s biggest foreign investors. Uzbekistan has proven gas reserves of 1.1 trillion cubic metres, according to BP. This is roughly the same as Azerbaijan.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

French foreign minister to visit Uzbekistan

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will visit Uzbekistan on April 14, the Uzbek foreign ministry announced. Uzbekistan is still considered a controversial country to visit because of concerns about its human rights record, although President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has said that he wants to attract more foreign investment.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Uzbek government set up to attract investments

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a law on setting up a government unit specifically to attract foreign investment, media reported. The State Committee for Investments will also be tasked with ensuring that the foreign investment is directed properly. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in power since September last year, has said that he wants to attract more foreign investors.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Gazprom pays knockdown price for Uzbek gas

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APRIL 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian media reported that Gazprom will pay only $125/1,000 cubic metres of gas from Uzbekistan, a relatively low amount. The supply deal between Uzbekistan and Gazprom had been struck at the beginning of April when Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Moscow and was hailed as a groundbreaking agreement. Analysts, though, have said that a price of $125/1,000 cubic metres is low and represents only $2.5b/year for the five year contract.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Swedish police arrest Uzbek for terror attack

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APRIL 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish police arrested a 39-year-old Uzbek man and accused him of hijacking a truck which he then drove into a department store in central Stockholm, killing four people.

The unnamed man was the second Central Asian to be accused of attacking and killing civilians in a week. On April 3 an Uzbek man from Kyrgyzstan blew himself up on the St Petersburg metro, killing 15 people.

The attack in Sweden has again turned the international spotlight onto Central Asia as a fertile recruitment ground for the radical IS group.

Analysts and experts have said much of the IS recruitment occurs in Russia where young men from Central Asia move to find work.

Central Asia’s leaders have been talking up the difficulties of stopping recruitment drives by the IS extremist group. Last year, on a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Bishkek, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev said that the recruitment system was proving more robust than anticipated.

Last week, in the aftermath of the St Petersburg attack, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pledged to crackdown on terrorist recruitment.

“What happened in St. Petersburg is a terrorist attack and terrorism does not have any borders, nationality or faith. This is our common pain, and this signals that we need to join forces here,” he was quoted as saying.

Details of the Swedish attacker are still emerging but media has reported that he was a failed asylum seeker who had been marked down for deportation. He avoided police, though, by giving them a false address and moving to a suburb of Stockholm known for its migrant communities.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)