Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan signs free trade deal with the CIS

DEC. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — More usually described as unilateral, Uzbekistan has taken a step towards being more collegiate towards its neighbours.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed a law on joining a free trade agreement among nine members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Uzbekistan originally signed a protocol on the free trade deal at a session of heads of CIS governments in Minsk, Belarus, on May 31 2013 and had been waiting for Mr Karimov’s signature to ratify it.

By joining the agreement Uzbekistan will drop import and export fees on goods to and from other member states. Of the eight other countries that signed the free trade deal in 2013 Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine have already put it into operation. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are still waiting to ratify it.

President Karimov has been keen to distance himself from the CIS in general and Moscow in particular but signing the agreement does bring Tashkent closer to the Kremlin.

Uzbekistan is expected to benefit from the agreement. What this move doesn’t mean, and this is important, is that relations with the West have weakened in any way. The free trade deal is important mainly for Uzbekistan’s exports and not for its geo-political trajectory.

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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)

Tethys Petroleum leaves Uzbekistan

JAN. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed energy company Tethys Petroleum said it will quit Uzbekistan because of a change in its political and business environment. Last month, Uzbek authorities accused Tethys of stealing oil. Tethys operates throughout Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)

Uzbekistan cuts interest rate

JAN. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate to 10% from 12% to try and combat falling inflation, media reported. Uzbekistan’s interest rate had been 12% since January 2011. Analysts expect official inflation in Uzbekistan to fall in 2014 to around 6% from 7% in 2013.

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(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)

Uzbek president’s daughter maintain their rivalry

DEC. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Karimov family feud appeared to have deepened after Lola Karimova-Tillayeva, the Switzerland-based youngest daughter of Uzbek Tresident Islam Karimov, wrote on her website that she was considering taking legal action against her elder sister Gulnara Karimova. The two sisters have been locked in a row over Gulnara’s presidential ambitions.

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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

Uzbekistan reduces child labour

DEC. 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Under pressure from the international community, Uzbekistan has reduced its use of students and school children to pick its cotton harvest but instead has increased the number of older professionals forced into fields, the New York Times reported.

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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

Uzbek delegation visits the US

DEC. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov led a delegation to Washington to meet with US State Department officials for annual talks, media reported. No details of the conversation were made public but the focus would have been on relations between the two countries and NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan next year.

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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

TeliaSonera sacks managers over Uzbek and Kazakh deals

DEC. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera sacked another top executive from its Eurasian division which has been linked to murky deals in both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The allegations of dubious deals bring into focus the links between the Uzbek and Kazakh elites and Western companies’ desire to tap into markets.

Media reported that Veysel Aral, head of TeliaSonera’s Eurasia unit, was fired after only 10 months in the job.

He took over in February from Tero Kivisaari who had been head of the unit in 2007 when it made a $350m payment to a Gibraltar-registered company linked to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, in return for a 3G licence.

Swedish media released details of that deal a couple of years ago triggering an internal investigation that has led to several high-level resignations and sackings at TeliaSonera.

Before Mr Aral took over from Mr Kivisaari as head of TeliaSonera’s Eurasia unit he had been in charge of KCell, TeliaSonera’s Kazakhstan subsidiary. Earlier this month a Swedish newspaper also raised questions over a $200m deal in 2012 by KCell to buy telecoms infrastructure from companies owned by Karim Massimov, head of Kazakhstan’s presidential administration.

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(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

Uzbekistan picks new interior minister

DEC. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov replaced his long-serving interior minister Bakhodyr Matlyubov. Analysts said the new interior minister General-Major Adkham Akhmedbayev, was a member of the so-called Tashkent clan and that his promotion gave the security services extended reach.

(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

Uzbekistan concedes mass amnesty

DEC. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan will release 92,000 prisoners, mainly the young and old, in one of its annual mass amnesties, media reported. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quoted a senior parliamentarian as saying the amnesty showed Uzbekistan was serious about reform. Reducing mass overcrowding in its prisons is a more likely trigger for the amnesty.

(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

Uzbekistan nominates new interior minister

DEC. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov sacked interior minister Bakhodyr Matlyubov, 62, and replaced him with his deputy, General-Major Adkham Akhmedbayev.

Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev becomes only the third interior minister in Uzbekistan’s 22 year history as an independent country.

His promotion, though, is more interesting than merely as an historical statistic.

In Uzbekistan, the interior minister is an important position, and Mr Karimov’s decision to promote Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev has an intriguing sub-plot. Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev is a member of the so-called Tashkent Clan which is competing for influence with the Samarkand Clan.

The most powerful member of the Tashkent Clan is Rustam Inoyatov, head of the Uzbek security service.

After Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev’s promotion, commentators and analysts immediately said that they detected the hand of the increasingly powerful Mr Inoyatov behind the scenes. Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev is a former member of the Uzbek security services. His control of the interior ministry now extends the power and influence of the Uzbek security services.

It’s also important for the apparent power struggle unfolding in the background. Mr Inoyatov is considered the main protagonist of the fall from grace of Gulnara Karimova, Mr Karimov’s eldest daughter and a potential successor.

Various scenarios could continue to play out in Uzbekistan ahead of a presidential election in 2015. All, though, it seems include a stronger Tashkent clan influence over the country and a weaker president.

(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)