JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Czech Republic should cancel an invitation to Uzbek President Islam Karimov to visit Prague later this month because of its poor human rights record. HRW accuses Mr Karimov of presiding over a regime that uses torture.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police arrested eight demonstrators in Tashkent 48 hours after they held a protest in support of the Euromaidan demonstrations in Kiev.
A court later jailed three of the protesters for 15 days and fined the others.
The story underlines Uzbekistan’s reputation as one of the most repressive countries in the world.
The demonstration may have been small but it was important as it showed the support for the Euromaidan anti-government protests in the former Soviet Union. Among those demonstrating was the relatively well-known Uzbek photographer Umida Akhmedova and her son.
The Uzbek authorities’ reaction is just as indicative.
They came down hard and fast on the demonstrators. For governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, the Euromaidan protest is bad news as it shows that the might of the Russia-centric leaders can be challenged.
This may have been a rare pro-Euromaidan demonstration in Central Asia but it is still important to monitor the region for any more signs of unrest. It’s extremely rare for protests in Tashkent to surface. Judging by the authorities reaction, they don’t want to see another one.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Tashkent arrested eight people 48 hours after they had held a protest outside the Ukrainian embassy in support of the pro-EU Euromaidan demonstrations in Kiev. A court later sentenced three of the activists to 15 days in jail.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Tashkent ruled that an Uzbek company had broken copyright rules by using branding registered to the Nivea skin-care products, local media reported. German company Beiersdorf owns the Nivea brand. Protecting intellectual property is a challenge for Western companies working in Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan is looking to secure a $650m loan from the Japan International Development Agency (JICA) to build a thermal power plant in the Ferghana Valley, media reported. Japan has been looking to boost its influence in Central Asia over the past few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Delegations from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan continued their discussions on how best to delineate their troublesome border. This was the second Uzbek-Kyrgyz border meeting in January. Last year tension flared between the two sides around a disputed border area.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s government has banned private security firms from guarding businesses, media reported. From Feb. 1, companies wanting to employ security will have to hire guards from the interior ministry. The new law will hamper the independence of international companies working in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EU Special Representative for Central Asia Patricia Flor travelled to Uzbekistan for the fourth time in 18 months.
Ms Flor met ministers and civil society leaders but not President Islam Karimov. The importance of another mission to Tashkent by Ms Flor is precisely that. It underlines Uzbekistan’s re-emergence in the international arena.
And this is most obviously down to Uzbekistan becoming the fulcrum for NATO’s co-called Northern Distribution Network to move its military kit out of neighbouring Afghanistan and back to Europe.
There has not been a discernible shift in Uzbekistan’s human rights record since government forces allegedly killed hundreds of people at a demonstration in Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan in 2005.
Instead realpolitik has elevated Uzbekistan. Last year, Mr Karimov visited Latvia when it held the rotating EU presidency and next month he travels to Prague. These are important successes for Mr Karimov.
While she was in Tashkent, Mr Flor underlined the EU’s belief in human rights and the rule of law. These are busy times in Uzbekistan for the EU and NATO.
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(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — MTS, the Russian telecoms firm, is reportedly negotiating with Uzbekistan on ways to re-enter the country.
In an interview with Russian media Vladimir Yevtushenko, chairman of Sistema which owns MTS, said that he was already negotiating the company’s return to Uzbekistan.
“Yes, I participate, but there are no predictions,” Mr Yevtushenko said in response to a question by a reporter from the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti on whether he was personally involved in negotiations over MTS potential return to Uzbekistan.
“Being out, well, not working (in Uzbekistan), is also good. Today, for us it is all history. Of course, a return would be good for MTS and for Uzbekistan but, as they say, the devil always lies in the details.”
MTS says that it was chased out of Uzbekistan, where it did have about half the mobile phone subscriber market, in 2012 after a series of tax cases were launched against it. Since then the Uzbek authorities have confiscated MTS equipment in Uzbekistan and unsuccessfully tried to auction it off.
But as well as negotiating with the Uzbek authorities, reports said that MTS has also started proceedings against Uzbekistan at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
For investors, the MTS dispute has become an important yardstick for measuring the problems of doing business in Uzbekistan.
This makes MTS’s carrot and stick approach, both negotiating and prosecuting through the courts, important to watch.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
JAN. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian telecoms firm MTS is negotiating with Uzbekistan on possibly re-entering the country after quitting in 2012 over tax disputes, the chairman of its parent company Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenko, told Russian media. At the same time reports say that MTS is challenging Uzbekistan in the international courts for its assets.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)