Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

MTS returning to Uzbekistan

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile provider MTS is testing equipment ahead of its re-entry into Uzbekistan, media reported. MTS, which is owned by Russia’s Sistema, quit Uzbekistan after a major row with the authorities in 2012 over alleged unpaid tax bills. It since appears to have made up and has agreed to return to the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Uzbek authorities sacked head of Tashkent police

NOV. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan have sacked the powerful head of the Tashkent police force, Colonel Abdumajid Mullajonov, and several of his deputies, media reported.

Over the past year intrigue has gripped Uzbekistan over the demise of the once all-power daughter of President Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova, and her associates. Sources in Tashkent said, though, that dismissal of Colonel Mullajonov, the son of the Central Bank chief, was not linked to politics.

Instead media said he had been sacked for corruption and bribery.

The importance of the change of leadership at the Tashkent police force is to highlight the flux that these powerful Uzbek institutions are currently going through.

Uzbek sources said Colonel Mullajonov allegedly misappropriated businesses of a sugar magnate who was a close business partner of Ms Karimova, and that he owned dozens of fuel stations in the two largest cities in Uzbekistan.

Uzbek politics, business and power are closely linked. The sacking of Colonel Mullajonov and his colleagues adds more intrigue to a fluid domestic situation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

IDB funds rural housing in Uzbekistan

NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Islamic Development Bank has agreed to loan Uzbekistan $100m to build extra rural housing, media reported. This is the second major loan by intergovernmental agencies for rural housing in Uzbekistan. In 2011, the Asian Development Bank approved a loan of $500m.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Turkmenistan ponders security

OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan may officially be neutral but it is still discussing regional security issues with NATO.

NATO’s liaison officer for Central Asia Alexander Vinnikov met with Turkmen officials to discuss various bilateral security options, media reported. This was the second major security meeting held by Turkmenistan in October. Earlier in the month President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov to discuss cooperation.

The main worry for Turkmenistan is the growing Taliban threat along its border with Afghanistan. The Taliban has increased their activities, triggering the Turkmen military to bolster its defences.

It’s also concerned about a re-galvanised Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The IMU emerged in the 1990s and had targeted Uzbekistan. In the 2000s it joined the Taliban fighting NATO forces in Afghanistan and this year claimed responsibility for an attack on Karachi airport. More recently, the IMU has publicly declared its support for the so-called Islamic State extremist group which is fighting in Syria and Iraq.

If the IMU did become a major threat to Central Asian states once again, Turkmenistan, with all its gas riches and long border with Afghanistan, could well be in its sights.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Uzbekistan’s sum drops 20%

OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s sum currency lost 20% of its value over a few days because of the depreciation of the Rouble, Russian media reported quoting a Central Bank official. Economists have warned of a ripple effect across Central Asia from the worsening Russian economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Uzbekistan progresses on child labour

NOV. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An official at the United Nations’ labour watchdog, ILO, said tentative progress had been made by Uzbekistan in eradicating child labour from the cotton harvest. AFP, a French news agency, quoted ILO official Harri Taliga as saying that he had seen some improvements during the recent harvest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Germany extends military base lease in Uzbekistan

OCT. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Germany has agreed a deal with Uzbekistan to keep open an air base in the south of the country, media reported. According to German media, a helicopter crash a few days

before the current lease ran out at the end of October complicated the deal to extend the lease for the base which Germany took over in 2001 in the aftermath of the attack on New York by Al Qaeda and the NATO invasion of Afghanistan.

The base is important for several reasons.

After the withdrawal of the US military from their base outside Bishkek, the German base in Uzbekistan will now be NATO’s only full time base in the region. The French air force use the airport at Dushanbe but they share many of the facilities with civilian aircraft.

Uzbekistan is also an important transit country for NATO which is planning on shifting most of its kit out of Afghanistan through Uzbekistan and Russia.

For Uzbekistan, the German base is also something of a bulwark against the threat of Al Qaeda and Taliban across the border in Afghanistan.

Neither Uzbek nor German officials gave any details on the lease extension deal. Media reported that Germany stations about 300 soldiers at the base. Details of a 2011 deal showed that it paid 16m euros a year to lease the base.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

People died in Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest

OCT. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least 19 people have died this year during Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported. Human rights campaigners have long accused the Uzbek authorities of forcing people to work in cotton fields during the harvest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Uzbek cotton cash flows to the hands of officials

OCT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A report by the Open Society Foundations, funded by US billionaire George Soros, on Uzbekistan’s cotton industry concluded that most of the profits from the sector goes to hidden funds that only a handful of top officials can access. Western companies are boycotting Uzbek cotton because of its alleged use of child labour.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Uzbekistan’s Aral Sea shrink hits millions

OCT. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Speaking via a video link to a conference in Tashkent, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said human interference had drained the Aral Sea with implications for millions of people. The Aral Sea, shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, has shrunk dramatically over the past 30 years, mainly due to Soviet era irrigation projects.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)