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Link with GM Uzbekistan threatens to dent Clinton’s presidential campaign

OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – US media sympathetic to the Republican party has hinted that a gift by car manufacturer GM to the Clinton Foundation in 2010 may have triggered a visit by Hillary Clinton to a factory GM part-owns in Uzbekistan in 2011 when she was Secretary of State.

This is not the first time that Ms Clinton has had to fight off allegations of poor judgement linked to her charitable foundation that she co- founded with her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, but it is the first time that Uzbekistan has fea- tured in the US presidential debate.

Fox News, which favours the Republican party, referenced a corruption scandal which has hit GM Uzbekistan this year over alleged bogus car sales to Russia.

“Clinton isn’t tied to any of the allegations,” it reported. “But it’s another example of how Clinton Foundation donations and subsequent State Department actions have put the Democratic presidential nominee in an awkward position.”

In 2010, GM gave the Clinton Foundation cars worth $685,000. A year later, Ms Clinton visited the GM Uzbekistan factory, a joint venture with the Uzbek government, in east

Uzbekistan, giving it a major publicity boost.

Business deals, and subsequent allegations of bribe paying, with Uzbekistan have proved damaging to Western companies before. Ms Clinton may also be tarnished by association.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Kyrgyz police releases wife of Tajik opposition figure

OCT. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz police released the wife of Sobir Valiev, a Tajik opposition figure, 22 hours after her arrest. Kyrgyzstan’s Security Service said the woman, Zhannat Khamzayeva, was questioned regarding the alleged illegal activities of her husband. Mr Valiyev, a member of the opposition movement Group-24 who currently lives in Poland, is accused of illegal border crossing and forging documents. The Security Service ordered Ms Khamzayeva to remain in the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Bashneft looks for fuel in Kazakhstan

OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian oil company Bashneft said it will explore the possibility of buying into the petrol station market in Kazakhstan. Bashneft already operates in Kazakhstan, where it produces around 500,000 tonnes of petroleum products. Sales representative Kirill Kasterin said the company now wants to sell petrol under its own brand. Bashneft owns around 70 filling stations in Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Turkmen cashpoints experience shortages

OCT. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen workers have been unable to access their salaries due to cash shortages at cashpoints across the Dashoguz province in northern Turkmenistan, the local service of RFE/RL reported. Teachers and other state workers who had not received salaries for months were notified that their back salaries had been paid into their bank accounts. Cash shortages, however, made funds inaccessible. News has been leaking out of Turkmenistan for months about cash shortages.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)f

Georgian Borjomi enters Korea

OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Korean company ANK PS signed an agreement for exclusive sales rights for Borjomi, the famous Georgian water. Borjomi, which is one of Georgia’s most recognisable brands abroad, will enter the Korean market in November.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Azerbaijan to initiate ties with the EU

SEPT. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s parliament voted to initiate a rapprochement with the EU, after relations were downgraded last year after the EU criticised Azerbaijan’s human rights record. The resolution follows an official visit by delegates from the EU parliament to Baku earlier in September. Azerbaijan quit the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in Sept. 2015, after a row with the EU and the OSCE over restrictions on parliamentary election observers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Georgia secures EU support for visa-free access

TBILISI, OCT. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — EU member states agreed to relax visa requirements for Georgians, a major step towards Georgia’s stated aim of gaining visa-free travel to the EU’s Schengen Zone.

The agreement needs to be voted on by the European Parliament but it would allow Georgian citizens to travel to the EU for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

“The Council takes the view that the entry into force of visa liberalisation for Georgia should be at the same time as the entry into force of the new ‘suspension mechanism’,” said the EU Council.

The suspension mechanism is a new tool that will be introduced to allow the EU to withdraw visa-free access quickly if members felt that it was being abused. The EU has said that this mechanism was necessary to give visa-free access to Ukraine, Turkey and Kosovo, as well as Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Korea to invest in food programme of Kyrgyzstan

OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Korea International Cooperation Agency will send $4m to the United Nations World Food Programme to implement a three-year programme aimed at improving food security in four regions of Kyrgyzstan. The project will target the poorest areas of the Batken, Jalal-Abad, Osh and Naryn provinces in central and south Kyrgyzstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Uzbek President bans unscheduled police raids

OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s acting President and PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev banned unscheduled police raids on businesses, in a move to improve, at least on paper, Uzbekistan’s business climate.

According to the decree, from January 2017 only pre-approved checks, linked to criminal activity or financial misconduct, can be ordered. This should end police raids, which have been linked to corruption.

This move fits Mr Mirziyoyev’s drive to build a presidential look for himself.

For the past few weeks, he has toured all regions in Uzbekistan, meeting foreign leaders and appearing more approachable than his predecessor Islam Karimov who died at the beginning of September

Mr Mirziyoyev is expected to win a presidential election in December.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Azerbaijan signs missile deal with Russia

OCT. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan and Russia agreed to jointly produce tactical air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, according to the AzeriDefense magazine. Representatives of KTRV, Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation, and Sharg, owned by Azerbaijan’s ministry of defence, signed the deal in Baku. Azerbaijan has been spending heavily on its weapon system in the last few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)