Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Attacker targets US embassy in Uzbekistan

SEPT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US embassy in Tashkent said that an unidentified man threw two homemade grenades over the wall of the compound.

One of the grenades exploded but didn’t injure anybody, the embassy said in a statement. No group has claimed responsibility. The embassy closed immediately after the attack although it reopened the following day.

“At approximately 7:30 am on Monday, September 28 an unidenti- fied assailant tossed two improvised incendiary devices onto embassy grounds,” the embassy said in a state- ment.

“One of the incendiary devices exploded. Immediately following the explosion the embassy went on lock- down. No one was injured in the blast.”

The attack will be a major concern for the US. Governments in Central Asia have spoken of the increased threat from radical Islam, although some of the evidence has been dis- puted. It’s still unclear if this attack was linked to radical Islam or to something else but it would have been unsettling.

In 2004, car bombs targeted both the US and Israeli embassies. Two security guards were killed outside the Israeli embassy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Chinese company starts construction in Uzbekistan

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Chinese manufacturer Poly Technologies said that it had started construction at a new rubber plant in Uzbekistan. During the ceremony at the Angren Special Industrial Zone, Gulomjon Ibragimov, Uzbekistan’s deputy PM said the project would improve rubber production capacity in the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Uzbekistan sends uranium to Russia

SEPT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said a batch of highly enriched uranium had been flown out of Uzbekistan to a site in Russia. The IAEA oversaw the project to remove the highly enriched uranium from a Tashkent research lab.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Uzbek corruption probe undermines TeliaSonera

SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – TeliaSonera last week sounded its retreat from Central Asia after trying to fight back against allegations of corruption and bribery made against its companies in the region over the past three years.

It’s a humbling moment for Telia- Sonera, the Stockholm-based mobile operator, that once had ambitions to dominate the South Caucasus and Central Asia region.

The company which has most undermined TeliaSonera’s reputation and made its position untenable was Ucell, its Uzbek subsidiary.

Prosecutors across Europe and in the US have launched investigations into alleged bribes of up to $325m that TeliaSoneria may have paid a Gibraltar-based company in 2007 and 2008

to access the Uzbek mobile phone market. The Gibraltar company was called Takilant and was closely linked to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

And if the allegations have been TeliaSonera’s undoing, they have also undermined Ms Karimova,

Once touted as a near-certain to replace her father, she is now under house arrest in Tashkent. Most of her allies are in jail and her assets in Europe have been seized.

When TeliaSonera does finally offload its Uzbek subsidiary it will have left an indelible mark on Uzbekistan’s history — in the mobile phone market, in corporate governance and in politics.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Work progresses on Uzbek rail

SEPT. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Work has nearly finished on an electric train line linking Tashkent with the Ferghana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan, media reported. The importance of the railway line is that it will cut out Tajikistan through which the previous Soviet-era line had to cross.

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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Uzbek President meets Korea bank

SEPT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov met with Lee Duk-hoon, President of the Korean state-owned Eximbank in Tashkent to discuss Korean investments in the country. After the negotiations, Mr Lee brokered the signing of an inter-banking agreement with Asaka Bank, opening a credit line of $160m for Uzbekistan. Korean Eximbank is a key partner for Uzbekistan’s infrastructure and banking projects.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Uzbek-Kyrgyz trade halves

SEPT. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In Jan.-July 2015, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan halved to $78.4m compared to the same period in 2014, according to Kyrgyz customs data. The figure shows the impact of the economic downturn.

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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Ukraine Air argues with Turkmenistan

SEPT. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ukraine International Airlines postponed the resumption of flights to Ashgabat due to an ongoing row between the two countries’ aviation authorities. Flights were suspended in August and were due to resume on Sept. 21. Ukraine is also locked in a row with the aviation authorities in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

VimpelCom in Uzbekistan appoints new CEO

SEPT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Unitel, a telecoms company based in Uzbekistan, appointed Dmitry Shukov, formerly head of Sistema Shyam Teleservices, the Indian branch of MTS, as its CEO. Unitel, which is owned by Amsterdam-based Vimpelcom, operates under the Beeline brand and has around 10m customers in Uzbekistan. VimpelCom’s owners are Russian magnate Mikheil Friedman and Norway’s Telenor.

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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

TeliaSonera companies reassure Kazakh, Uzbek, Azerbaijani customers

ALMATY, SEPT. 18-21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shortly after Swedish telecoms TeliaSonera said last week it was leaving Central Asia and the South Caucasus, its local brands were quickly reassuring worried customers they were not quitting altogether.

Azercell, Geocell, Kcell, Tcell and Ucell, TeliaSonera’s assets in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, all issued statements saying they will continue to operate.

Rumours still swirled but they focused on who would takeover TeliaSonera’s assets. Turkcell, which through Fintur is already a stakeholder in Azercell, Geocell and Kcell, is favourite. TeliaSonera also owns a stake in Fintur.

“To explore our strategic options to acquire the remaining stake in Fintur, we have initiated the process to appoint a strategic and financial advisor,” Turkcell said.

Analysts had mixed reaction. Some said TeliaSonera’s assets would attract decent bids, others that the poor state of the Kazakh economy would undermine their value.

Alexander Vasiliyev, editor of the website Profit.kz said Kcell would be a good buy for a global telecoms company.

“It continues to lay golden eggs, it is the largest player in the Kazakh market,” he told Kapital.kz.

Aivar Baikenov, Head of Research at Asyl-Invest, disagreed. He singled out the drop in the value of the Kazakh tenge, down 40% in a year, as a major problem.

“Kazakhstan is not attractive for foreign investors due to the devaluing tenge. I suppose Kcell could be interesting for local or maybe Russian investors,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)