Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Power struggle brews in Uzbekistan

NOV. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, has a broad ranging resume. She has been a diplomat, a pop singer, a fashion designer and a business leader.

More recently, though, she appears to have taken on the role of social activist, an unlikely part for somebody at the centre of a money laundering scheme and whose father is accused of imprisoning his enemies.

Even so, Ms Karimova, an avid Twitter user has been handing out advice on a range of topics.

In one such Tweet, Ms Karimova accused the head of the much-feared National Security Service (NSS), that’s modern Uzbekistan’s version of the Soviet-era KGB, Rustam Inoyatov, of lining himself up for the presidency.

Succession is a major issue in Uzbekistan. Islam Karimov, Ms Karimova’s father, has been president since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. He is now 75, rumoured not to be in great health and without a clear successor.

Ms Karimova would be an obvious choice, but she is loathed in Uzbekistan and various corruption scandals have tainted her reputation.

Now, perhaps, Mr Inoyatov has entered the frame. He has been head of the NSS for two decades and is one of the most powerful people in the country. Media reports said that he had prepared a dossier of Ms Karimova’s illegal financial dealings to blacken her image further.

After reading the dossier, Mr Karimov, according to local media, initiated investigations into various companies linked to his daughter, leaving her to vent.

It’s too early to say that a struggle for the presidency has started in Tashkent. What is clear, though, is that a personal power struggle between Ms Karimova and Mr Inoyatov is underway with potentially turbulent results.

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(News report from Issue No. 159, published on Nov. 6 2013)

Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest remains constant

OCT. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov said Uzbekistan had picked 3.35m tonnes of raw cotton this year, media reported. This is the same amount of cotton gathered in last year’s harvest. Uzbekistan’s cotton industry has attracted increased scrutiny over the past few years for allegedly using child labour.

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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Uzbekistan lags in business ranking

OCT. 30 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan is the most difficult former Soviet state to do business in, the World Bank said in an annual report. It ranked Uzbekistan in 146th position, up slightly from last year, alongside Tanzania and Nigeria. The biggest problem with doing business in Uzbekistan, the World Bank said, were its tightly controlled borders.

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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

ADB funds rural development in Uzbekistan

OCT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200m loan to help build houses in rural Uzbekistan, media reported. ADB’s loan underscores the need for better housing outside Uzbekistan’s main cities. The loan is part of $500m tranche agreed between ADB and Uzbekistan in 2011.

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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Uzbek authorities investigate charity

OCT. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tax police have started an investigation into the finances of The Forum of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan, a charity linked to Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, media reported. The investigation may be aimed at unsettling Ms Karimova, part of a wider power struggle in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Fuel shortages spread across Uzbekistan

OCT. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuel shortages are spreading across Uzbekistan, including in Tashkent, media reported. Photos reportedly showing drivers queuing for fuel in the Uzbek capital are important because it had previously been less effected by shortages than the rest of the country. The Uzbek government denies there are fuel supply problems.

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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Singer pulls out of Uzbekistan concert

OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lara Fabian, a Belgian-Italian singer, pulled out of a concert in Tashkent organised by Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Ms Fabian said she pulled out because she was concerned about the Uzbek government’s human rights record.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

European singer pulls out of Uzbek concert

OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been a difficult year for Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov and, perhaps, his heir.

Her sister Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva disowned her and told the world that Ms Karimova’s chances of becoming president were almost nil. She’s also had her property seized in Europe and become the focus of a money laundering investigation.

Now Ms Karimova has also had to deal with the humiliation of watching Lara Fabian, a Belgian-Italian singer, pull out of a concert she had organised in Tashkent.

On her Facebook site, Ms Fabian said that when she found out who the event organiser was, she quit.

She said she had been shocked and upset by criticism from media which made her out to be a stooge of the Uzbek government. Human rights groups accuse the Uzbek authorities of torturing prisoners and dissenters.

“My career and commitments reflect my values and I am shocked that you would think I can endorse a system that does not respect human rights,” she wrote.

Clearly performing for Ms Karimova or any other members of the Uzbek elite is poor PR for a European singer.

And Ms Karimova took the news personally. She vented on her twitter account that foreign forces had persuaded Ms Fabian to pull out of the concert.

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

VimpelCom suffers attack in Uzbekistan

OCT. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It was a short message, sent via the WhatsApp and Viber instant messaging systems, but it still had a powerful effect.

On Oct. 25 subscribers to the Beeline brand in Uzbekistan received a message which said the authorities had decided to revoke its licence.

Russian mobile operator VimpelCom owns the Beeline brand which it operates in Uzbekistan through its Unitel subsidiary.

The message, although quickly rejected as a fake by Beeline, sent its clients scurrying to its main rival, Ucell, which is operated by Sweden’s TeliaSonera through the locally registered company COSCOM.

It’s bad timing for VimpelCom which is already facing an uphill battle to survive in Uzbekistan.

Uzbek tax inspectors have launched an investigation into its affairs. It has also run into conflict with the mobile regulators who previously turned down its request to expand its coverage.

Last year, VimpelCom’s main Russian rival MTS left Uzbekistan, complaining of harassment from the authorities.

The fake message and the panic it spread among subscribers would have damaged Beeline just when it needs to appear strong.

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Uzbekistan’s president flies to Latvia

OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov flew to Latvia for his first state visit to the EU since visiting Brussels nearly three years ago. Mr Karimov met his Latvian counterpart Andris Berzins to discuss bilateral relations and other issues.

(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)