DEC. 27 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan sacked 562 staff from its finance ministry in a corruption purge that appears designed to show off President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s determination to root out bribe-taking. Reuters reported that Mr Mirziyoyev had described the finance ministry staff accused of corruption as “rats”.
ENDS
— This story was first published on Jan. 5 2018 in issue 356 of The Conway Bulletin
SEPT. 22 (The Bulletin) — Swedish prosecutors charged former Telia CEO Lars Nyberg, former deputy CEO and head of its Eurasia division Tero Kivisaari and a third unnamed senior executive with authorising bribe-paying to access Uzbekistan in 2007/8. The charges came a day after Telia agreed to pay a fine of $965m to settle the bribe-paying allegations.
ENDS
— This story was first published in issue 344 of The Conway Bulletin, now called the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Sept. 24 2017.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2017
SEPT. 21 (The Bulletin) — Former Kazakh PM Serik Akhmetov was released from prison in Karaganda only two years into a 10 year sentence for corruption. Akhmetov was convicted in 2015 in a high-profile trial that highlighted the country’s endemic problem with corruption. He was PM from September 2012 until April 2014. Earlier in September, a court in Karaganda said that Akhmetov should be released but that he will face limitations on his freedom.
ENDS
— This story was first published in issue 344 of The Conway Bulletin, now called the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Sept. 24 2017.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2017
SEPT. 21 (The Bulletin) — In a settlement with the US authorities, Swedish telecoms company Telia agreed to pay a fine of $965m for bribing its way into the Uzbek mobile market in 2007/8. The fine is smaller than had first been mooted. Telia paid a Gibraltar-based company ultimately owned by Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, at least $330m.
ENDS
— This story was first published in issue 344 of The Conway Bulletin, now called the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Sept. 24 2017.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2017
SEPT. 19 (The Bulletin) — A court in Tajikistan sentenced nine former anti-corruption officials, including Firuz Kholmurodzoda, the deputy head of the investigations of the State Anti-Corruption Department, to jail. The case is a reminder of just how entrenched corruption is in Tajikistan. Kholmurodzoda, who received 15 years in prison for abuse of office, had previously prosecuted critics of the government.
ENDS
— This story was first published in issue 344 of The Conway Bulletin, now called the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Sept. 24 2017.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2017
SEPT. 18 (The Bulletin) — A deal lauded by Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev only three months ago as proof that Kyrgyzstan can attract major foreign direct investment has been scrapped. Kyrgyz PM Sapar Isakov announced the deal was dead after it became clear that Liglass, the Czech company, had no way of paying $37m to Russia by mid-September to takeover construction of the major Upper Naryn Cascade hydropower project.
ENDS
— This story was first published in issue 344 of The Conway Bulletin, now called the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Sept. 24 2017.
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2017
SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A series of newspapers in Europe, including the Guardian, published reports of alleged money laundering and bribe-paying by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family through London.
The reports said that Mr Aliyev and his family had set up a series of offshore shell companies that pushed cash around the world and paid to lobby influential journalists and politicians.
This is not the first time that Mr Aliyev had been accused of laundering money and bribe-paying. He has refuted previous allegations. Human rights groups accuse Mr Aliyev of presiding over a corrupt regime.
.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The trial started in Stockholm of Evegny Pavlov, a 37-year-old Russian national, who is accused of bribing Azerbaijani officials in 2013 to win a $340m contract for Canadian train maker Bombardier.
Mr Pavlov was head of the Baku office of Bombardier, reporting to the company’s Europe office in Stockholm when it won a contract to replace and install train signals across Azerbaijan.
It had partnered with an unknown Azerbaijani company called Trans-Signal-Rabita to win the contract. Trans-Signal-Rabita was owned by employees of the Azerbaijani ministry of transport awarding the contract.
His lawyers have argued that he was too junior to influence the process and that any corruption issues lie higher up. Bombardier has denied any wrongdoing.
Five other Bombardier employees have been described as suspects, including Peter Cedervall, a senior official in the Stockholm office.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev started a libel case against two French journalists and a broadcaster for describing him as a dictator.
The libel claims focus on a report broadcast in 2015 from Azerbaijan by France 2 called: ‘My president is travelling on business’. Introducing the report, presenter Elise Lucet called Azerbaijan a “dictatorship” and reporter Laurent Richard described Mr Aliyev as a “despot” and a “dictator”.
The image-conscious Mr Aliyev is looking for a symbolic 1 euro in damages but also wants sanctions on the broadcaster and two reporters. His lawyers have said that the report was sensationalised and not based on fair reporting.
Azerbaijan is considered one of the worst countries in the world for media freedom. It has rowed with both the EU and the US over the past few years because of what free speech activists have said has been a systematic clampdown on journalists.
In 2011, the youngest daughter of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, lost a libel case against French website rue89.com for calling her a “dictator’s daughter”.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 18 2017 (The Bulletin) — Prosecutors in Sweden said that would charge a Stockholm-based employee of Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier with bribing Azerbaijani officials. According to news reports, the unnamed Russian national bribed to win a $340m contract. He has, reportedly, denied the charges.
ENDS
Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)