Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Petrol prices rise by 35% in Uzbekistan

OCT. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan increased the price of petrol by nearly 35%, underscoring the inflationary pressure built into its economy. State energy company Uzbekneftegaz said it was rising the price of a litre of AI-80 petrol to 2,800 soum from 2,075 soum. Other grades of petrol were given a similar price rise. Uzbekistan has been steadily increasingly the price of key items such as gas, electricity and petrol as the value of its soum currency falls, angering and frustrating ordinary people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Japan’s Mitsubishi to build new thermal power station in Uzbekistan

OCT. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation signed a contract with state-owned Uzbekenergo for the construction of a second co-generation station at the Navoi thermal power plant which will significantly increase the plant’s capacity.

Navoi, in central Uzbekistan, is one of the country’s main industrial hubs.

Mitsubishi had participated in the construction of a 478 megawatt co- generation station that the Uzbek government commissioned in 2009.

Electricity generation is a major issue in the region with governments scrambling to replace aging Soviet- era technology.

Mitsubishi will work together with Turkey’s Calik Enerji. The two companies said construction of the new, 450 megawatt station will be completed by 2019.

Mitsubishi and Uzbekenergo had agreed on the feasibility of the new station in 2014. Like several other major infrastructure projects, the expansion of Navoi had been questioned due to the regional economic slump.

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(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Uzbek government sends delegation to Osh

BISHKEK, OCT. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A high-ranking Uzbek government delegation visited Osh in Kyrgyzstan for a groundbreaking meeting which highlighted both improving relations between the two neighbours and the charm offensive that Uzbekistan’s president-in-waiting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has laid on since Islam Karimov died in September.

Uzbek delegations have also travelled to Tajikistan and China since Mr Mirziyoyev was appointed acting president. His press office has also said that he has spent time talking to Turkmen president Kurbangly Berdymukhamedov.

This friendly foreign policy approach is in marked contrast to the stance that Karimov took when he was president. He preferred to keep a distance from his neighbours, often souring relations.

The most remarkable change has been towards Kyrgyzstan where border rows had threatened to tip into war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Uzbekistan to export cars to Tajikistan

OCT. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shokasym Shoislamov, the Uzbek ambassador to Tajikistan, said the countries are negotiating an agreement to open the Tajik market to Uzbek car exports. Uzbekistan’s largest carmaker, GM Uzbekistan, a JV between US-based GM and the Uzbek government, exports most of its cars to Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Telia’s losses in Uzbekistan grow

OCT. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sweden’s Telia Company posted a net loss of $908m in Q3 2016 due to the settlement of court cases involving corrupt practices in Uzbekistan. Telia, which paid $1.4b to settle claims by US and Dutch courts in September, said that the court case is not yet closed, hinting of possible further claims. The company was accused of bribing Gulnara Karimova, daughter of late- Uzbek President Islam Karimov, to win telecoms licences.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Uzbek nanny admits her guilt

OCT. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — On the first day of her murder trial, Gyulchekhra Bobokulova, an Uzbek nanny, pleaded guilty to beheading a 4-year-old girl in Moscow in February. Bobokulova was filmed standing outside a Moscow metro station waving the severed head and calling herself a terrorist. She had been hired by a Moscow- based family to care for the girl she murdered. The incident has shocked people in Russia and triggered calls by nationalists to increase control over migrant workers from Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Uzbek acting-President approves mass amnesty

OCT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan acting president Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved an amnesty for hundreds of inmates to mark the 25th anniversary of the country’s constitution in December, media reported. Reports said that women, inmates under 18 and over 60 and those who don’t pose any risk to society would be freed. Mr Mirziyoyev is on a charm offensive ahead of an election in December that is expected to give him the presidency on a permanent basis. Islam Karimov, who ruled from 1991, died in September.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Uzbek officials sentence islamists

OCT. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in the Ferghana Valley,east Uzbekistan, sentenced five men to up to nine years in prison for setting up an extremist Islamic cell, media reported. Uzbekistan and other countries in Central Asia have been cracking down on radical Islam although human rights groups have said these crack downs are being used as a pretext for curbing basic rights. Reports said that the group was trying to spread extremist propaganda and that they planned to overthrow the government. No more details were given.

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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Cotton exports rise in Uzbekistan

OCT. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — At its annual cotton fair, Uzbekistan reportedly signed deals to export finished cotton worth $1.3m, up from $800m in 2015, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Cotton is one of Uzbekistan’s most important exports. Many Western brands refuse to use Uzbek cotton in their garments because of its association with child labour.

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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan sign bilateral deals

OCT. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Tashkent, the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan signed a deal to extend bilateral relations. Although vague in detail, the agreement is important because it underlines the improving ties between the two neighbours. For most of the year tension along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border has been rising. Since the death of Uzbek president Islam Karimov in September, though, dialogue between the two sides has improved markedly.

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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)