Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbek president cancels visit to Czech Republic

FEB. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — After weeks of pressure it was Uzbek officials who, officially at least, cancelled a planned trip by President Islam Karimov, to Prague planned for Feb. 20-22.

Human rights activists had urged Czech president Milos Zeman to cancel the trip before Mr Karimov.

They argued that Mr Karimov’s human rights abuses were too deep to be overlooked but Mr Zeman had refused to back down. He said the invitation was a reciprocal deal because the Czech Republic’s president in 2004 had travelled to Tashkent at Mr Karimov’s invitation.

A trip to the EU would have been something of a coup for Mr Karimov. He has tried to reintegrate back into the international community since they turned their backs on him after soldiers allegedly shot hundreds of demonstrators in a town in eastern Uzbekistan in 2005.

Since then, though, NATO countries have wooed Mr Karimov to help extract their military kit from neighbouring Afghanistan. In 2011, Mr Karimov visited NATO and EU headquarters in Brussels and in 2013 he visited Latvia, then the rotating head of the EU.

But, while Mr Zeman couldn’t be deterred from meeting Mr Karimov, Czech government ministers could. What appears to have tipped Uzbek officials into cancelling the trip was various Czech ministers pulling out of meetings leaving Mr Karimov with nobody, other than Mr Zeman, to meet.

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(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Uzbekistan plans new mobile carrier

FEB. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek president Islam Karimov wants to build Uzmobile, a subsidiary of Uztelecom, into a new national mobile phone operator. Uzbekistan has been trying, and failing, to sell kit left by Russia’s MTS when it quit Uzbekistan in 2012 after a row with the authorities over tax.

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(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Uzbekistan restricts religious freedom

FEB. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A law specifically banning books and pamphlets that encourage people to switch religion came into force in Uzbekistan last month, the Forum 18 news service reported. The law, which was formalised on Jan. 27, also allows the authorities to confiscate Muslims’ literature when they return from a Hajj to Mecca.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Uzbek authorities increase pressure on president’s daughter

FEB. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It looks as if hostilities between Gulnara Karimova and her enemies have resumed.

The Prosecutor-General in Uzbekistan reported that police detained three associates of Ms Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, for alleged financial crimes linked to Terra Group, Prime Media and Gamma Productions.

Terra Group, Prime Media and Gamma Productions were Ms Karimova’s media companies until they were shut down in 2013.

Pressure has been building on Ms Karimova over the past six months. She has been trying to defend herself from her rivals, mostly in the Uzbek intelligence services, who want to derail any ambition she may harbour of becoming the next president of Uzbekistan.

Mr Karimov has been Uzbekistan’s president since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and, publicly at least, he hasn’t named a successor. Once one of the most powerful people in Uzbekistan, Ms Karimova has seen police raid her businesses and detain her associates.

One of those detained in police operations was Gayane Avakyan. Ms Avakyan will be well known to Swedish-Finnish telecoms company TeliaSonera. She was the owner of a Gibraltar-registered company that took a multi-million dollar payment in 2007/8 for a 3G licence in Uzbekistan.

Investigators are currently investigating the deal as they suspect it may have been a secret payment forwarded on to Ms Karimova.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Pressure mounts on Uzbek president’s daughter

FEB. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Uzbekistan detained three close associates of Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek president Islam Karimov. Ms Karimova has been under increasing pressure over the last few months from rivals in the Uzbek intelligence service who want to derail her presidential ambitions.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Extreme cold hits Uzbekistan

FEB. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In Uzbekistan, temperatures have dropped to nearly minus 30 Celsius, media reported. Shops have closed and the streets are empty as people choose to stay at home to try and keep warm. The extreme cold has put huge pressure on resources. Some schools and hospitals have shut.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)

The US extends military aid to Uzbekistan

FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The US has extended military aid to Uzbekistan despite human rights concerns, eurasianet.org reported. Over the last couple of years, Uzbekistan has become a key NATO ally helping it to extract kit out of neighbouring Afghanistan. The US Congress has to agree on military support for Uzbekistan every six months.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)

Czech presidents defends Uzbekistan

FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The row over a scheduled visit to Prague by Uzbek president Islam Karimov has intensified.

The day after receiving a letter signed by a group of human rights activists calling for the visit to be cancelled, Czech President Milos Zeman posted a response on the internet. And he didn’t pull any punches.

He accused human rights lobbyists of hypocrisy and of not understanding the geo-political nature and the niceties of diplomatic relations.

“I wish you had more awareness and less hypocrisy,” he wrote after explaining that the invitation for Mr Karimov to visit Prague between Feb. 20-22 was because the Czech president in 2004 had been invited to Tashkent.

Mr Zeman also said that Uzbekistan had recently held talks with the EU and was helping NATO extract its military kit out of neighbouring Afghanistan.

All this may be true but it won’t placate the human rights lobby which considers Mr Karimov leader of one of the most repulsive regimes in the world. They accuse him of torture and locking up his enemies.

Mr Karimov’s trip to Prague is set to be, politically, explosive.

(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)

Remittances to Uzbekistan lose value

FEB. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The falling value of the Russian rouble is decreasing the amount of cash that Uzbeks working in Russia are able to wire home, media reported. Like other Emerging Markets currencies, the rouble has been slipping back against a strengthening dollar over the past few months.

(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)

Uzbekistan increases car exports

FEB. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s state-owned Uzavtoprom exported 90,800 cars in 2013, official media reported, up around 20% from 2012. Uzbekistan’s car manufacturing sector is increasingly important to the country. It mainly exports to Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan.

(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)