NOV. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bobomurod Razzoqov, a 60-year-old human rights activist from Bukhara in Uzbekistan, started serving a four year prison sentence following his conviction in September of human trafficking. Rights groups said the charges were fabricated. Uzbekistan has one of the worst human rights records in the world.
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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Uzbek delegation led by foreign minister Abulaziz Kamilov visited Britain for talks on further cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan. Despite concerns over its human rights record, NATO is cooperating with Uzbekistan to withdraw its military equipment from neighbouring Afghanistan next year.
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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Torture in Uzbek prisons is widespread and systematic, the UN said in a new report. Human rights groups and the UN have said for years that Uzbekistan has one of the worst records on torture in the world. This new report, though, also said little was being done to improve prison conditions.
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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan and Latvia appear to be getting cosy.
First, Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s visited Latvia in October, his first trip to the EU since Jan. 2011, and now Uzbekistan has hosted an Uzbek-Latvian business forum in Tashkent.
But Uzbekistan’s new improved relations with the EU doesn’t stop with Latvia. The next day a delegation from the Polish government held talks with the Uzbek government.
And to top off this flurry of EU wooing, media reports said that on Nov. 15 the Uzbek foreign ministry invited Yuri Strek, head of the EU delegation in Uzbekistan, to discuss bilateral ties.
Several years of EU-imposed economic sanctions and arms embargoes failed to yield any real improvement on human rights in Uzbekistan. The EU imposed the sanctions after Uzbek soldiers shot and killed hundreds of civilians in the town of Andijan in 2005. Uzbekistan has said the attack was targeted against Islamic insurgents.
Over the past few years, though, realpolitik has gained the ascendancy. Brussels first lifted travel sanctions on Uzbek officials and then invited Uzbek president Islam Karimov to visit the EU and NATO headquarters.
The EU needs Uzbekistan as a trade partner and an ally to help withdraw NATO soldiers from Afghanistan. Uzbekistan needs the EU to boost its international standing and to play off Russian and Chinese influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The head of the Uzbek parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Sadiq Safayev, poured cold water on Russian reports that Uzbekistan was considering joining the Moscow-led Customs Union. Uzbekistan is interested in developing bilateral relations with Russia but not in join the Customs Union, media quoted Mr Safayev as saying.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Perhaps reflecting a Russian economic slowdown, sales of cars to Russia at the GM Uzbekistan factory have fallen by a third so far this year compared to 2012, media reported quoting data from the Association of European Business. Russia is the factory’s biggest market. Russia’s economy is vital for Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Navoi, in the centre of Uzbekistan, is becoming increasingly significant to the Uzbek government.
It has designated the area around the Soviet-built town a special economic zone, granting companies tax breaks and other incentives to invest there. It has also developed the airport speedily and aggressively.
Since 2007, Navoi airport has steadily increased in size and scope. On its website, the Navoi airport mission statement is simple and clear: “To become the respected major multi-modal logistics centre at the heart of Eurasia, by connecting international air, rail and overland routes into a single Hub based on Navoi International Airport.”
Uzbekistan has already spent millions on improving facilities at the Navoi airport — it hosts cooling and storage facilities and is able to process 300 tonnes of cargo every day — and now local media have reported that it plans another $35 million investment to improve fuelling facilities.
This is important for Uzbekistan and Central Asia because it puts it in direct competition with Manas airport near Bishkek and Almaty.
There is still a long way to go, of course. Manas is still the US military’s main transport base, although it will withdraw by the middle of next year, and Almaty, in Kazakhstan, is the region’s main commercial centre.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan Airways will charge foreign airlines for airport services at Tashkent in euros from Dec. 1, local media quoted Russian news agency RIA Novosti as saying. Analysts said the move undermines confidence in Uzbekistan’s national currency which is heavily controlled by the authorities.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek government fired the head of its gas pipeline monopoly Uztransgaz, Tulyagan Jurayev, less than a month after the head of Uzbekneftegas, the state energy company, was also sacked. It’s unclear why Mr Jurayev was sacked. Analysts said it may be part of a power struggle in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek financial police closed clothes shops in Tashkent selling Western brands. The raids on Mango, the United Colours of Benetton and others underline the difficulty of business in Uzbekistan. Media reports said the shops were linked to Gulnara Karimova, daughter of President Islam Karimov.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)