DEC. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged theft of oil by Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum, media reported. Tethys Petroleum, which operates across Central Asia, denied any wrongdoing. Complaining of pressure from the authorities, foreign investors have been leaving Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lukoil, the Russian energy company, plans to invest $5b in Uzbekistan over the next five years, making it the Central Asian state’s biggest single foreign investor, media reported. Lukoil is investing in three major gas producing projects in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The number of people using the internet in Uzbekistan has grown by 18% over the past year to around 7.1m people, media quoted Uzbek President Islam Karimov as saying. As a democratic tool, though, the internet is severely limited in Uzbekistan as the authorities heavily monitor users. The population of Uzbekistan is 30m.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of Uzbekistan’s Constitution, President Islam Karimov played the role of the democrat.
He said he wanted Parliament to be stronger and to play a more defined role in public life. What he wanted to see, he said, was parliament monitoring both ministers and the decision-making process. To extend the Uzbek parliament’s reach and power, Mr Karimov said he would have to alter with the country’s already much tinkered with constitution.
Mr Karimov, though, is not known as a democrat and he was paying only lip-service to the idea of a powerful parliament. In reality it rubber stamps his decisions.
For foreign businesses and analysts, the underlying message of Mr Karimov’s latest pronouncement is that he is happy to alter Uzbekistan’s constitution to give more window dressing to the idea that parliamentary democracy exists in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The top members of the Uzbek national security service and not President Islam Karimov are the main king-makers in Uzbekistan, analysts told The Bulletin. Mr Karimov’s eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova, has been locked in a struggle for power in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
NOV. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lola Karimova-Tillayeva, younger daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, and her husband have a combined wealth of 100m-200m Swiss francs ($110m-$220m), Swiss media reported. The report will be embarrassing to Mrs Karimova-Tillayeva who said in a recent interview that she was not particularly wealthy.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The International Labour Organisation (ILO) denied a report on the Uznews.net website which said it had not found evidence of child labour during its investigation of Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest. An ILO spokesperson said it was examining data and that it planned to issue a report in February.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan ditched a tax evasion investigation into Russian telecoms company VimpelCom and its brand Beeline. Pressure had been building on VimpelCom throughout the year. Earlier in the year, VimpelCom’s Russian rival MTS quit Uzbekistan after tax evasion charges were levied.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
NOV. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan continued to ramp up pressure on Gulanara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. On Nov. 27, the Central Bank withdrew an operating licence for Credit Standard Bank, which is linked to her. Later, police also closed down art and jewellery stores belong to Ms Karimova.
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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)
NOV. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan has introduced new regulation that, in theory, makes it harder to launder money and finance terrorism, media reported. Under the new rules, individual transactions of over $4,000 trigger a red flag, a tenth of the previous amount.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)