Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan slashes ground handling fees at airports

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FEB. 25 2020 (The Bulletin) — In an effort to attract air freight companies to use its airports for refuelling stopovers between Europe and Asia, Uzbekistan’s government said that it was slashing fees for ground handling. In its memo on the fee reductions, which started on March 1, the Uzbek government also said that it was cutting the fee for arriving passengers and the costs of services in the business class lounge. The countries of Central Asia are competing to become the top host for stopovers for planes on the Europe-Asia route.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Mirziyoyev promotes Western educated official to be finance minister

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FEB. 25 2020 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev swapped up his top economic team by making former deputy Central Bank chief Timur Ishmetov finance minister and shifting Jamshid Kucharov from the finance minister to be the economy and industry minister. The 41-year-old Mr Ishmetov, who was partially educated at the University of Birmingham, represents the start of a generational shift in Uzbekistan’s bureaucracy away from ministers who were trained under the USSR to those who have studied in the West.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Former Uzbek Prosecutor-General jailed for corruption

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FEB. 25 2020 (The Bulletin) — A military court in Uzbekistan sentenced former Prosecutor-General Otabek Murodov to five years of “limited freedom” for various financial crimes. Murodov is the third Uzbek Prosecutor-General in two years to be found guilty of financial crimes. Opponents of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev have said that he is using the courts to take out potential opponents.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Proctor & Gamble says it is considering building a plant in Uzbekistan

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TASHKENT/Jan. 7 2020 (The Bulletin) — Proctor & Gamble, one of the world’s largest producer of consumer goods, is considering setting up a production site in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek government said.

According to Uzbekistan’s ministry of investment and foreign trade, regional executives from Proctor & Gamble flew to Tashkent for a meeting with ministers.

“Procter & Gamble is currently studying the industrial potential of Uzbekistan and considering the prospects of creating high-tech production facilities in the country,” media reports said of the meeting on Dec. 24. “In the operations in the country, the company will follow American standards of quality and environmental friendliness.”

If Proctor & Gamble did set up a production facility in Uzbekistan it would be a major coup for the Uzbek government which has been trying to woo foreign investment and to present itself as the premier business location in Central Asia.

The company, which is based in Cincinnati and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is best known for its brands such as washing up powders Ariel and Tide, shampoo brand Head & Shoulders and shaving products sold as Gillette. It has not commented on the Uzbek government statement.

Like other Western companies, Proctor & Gamble reentered the Uzbek market in 2017, the year after Islam Karimov, the reclusive autocrat who had run the country since the 1991 collapse of the USSR, died. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who had been PM under Karimov, took over as president and immediately promised to dismantle most of the hardline policies. He also made it easier for Western companies to repatriate profits.

There are currently 260 people working at Proctor & Gamble’s distribution site in Uzbekistan.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Uzbekistan to supply Japan with uranium worth $1b

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JAN. 8 2020 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan signed a deal with Japan to supply uranium worth $1b to Japan between 2023 and 2030, a deal that highlights Uzbekistan’s status as one of the world’s top uranium producers. Neighbouring Kazakhstan is considered to be the world’s biggest uranium producer.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

World Bank predicts strong growth in the region

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JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — In its annual growth predictions, the World Bank said that Uzbekistan’s economy would grow by 5.7% in 2020, the fastest growth in Central Asia. In the south Caucasus, the World Bank said that Armenia would record the fastest growth with a 5.1% rise compared to a 2.3% rise in Azerbaijan’s economy and a 4.3% rise in Georgia’s economy.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Tajik and Uzbek officials meet to discuss border issues

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JAN. 8 2020 (The Bulletin) — Officials from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan met in Tashkent to approve technical documents that they said should lay the basis for the demarcation of their shared border, a dispute that has at times over the past 30 years has triggered violence. A series of meetings between officials to decide on the border issues are scheduled for this year.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Former diplomat jailed for treason in Uzbekistan

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JAN. 9 2020 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan jailed Kadyr Yusupov, 67, its former ambassador to Britain and an adviser on Uzbek-Chinese trade, for 5-1/2 years for treason. Human rights activists said that Yusupov had been forced to admit his guilt at a secret trial. The allegations of treason against Yusupov have not been fleshed out. He was arrested in December 2018, a few days after allegedly jumping in front of a train on the Tashkent metro.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Uzbekistan completes parliamentary election

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JAN. 5 2020 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan completed its parliamentary election with a second round of voting for 25 constituencies that needed a run-off. Western election observers had already described the election as one-sided despite the official narrative calling it the freest election in Uzbekistan. Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s party won 53 seats in the 150-seat chamber. None of the other four parties in parliament are critical of Mr Mirziyoyev.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Gulnara Karimova faces another trial

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JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s government approved a six-fold rise in the cash payment given to families for having their first child in order to try to reverse the country’s falling birth rate. From July, a family will receive a 300,000 dram ($625) payment for the birth of their first and second children, six times higher than the current 50,000 drams for a first child and double the current 150,000 drams for a second child. Monthly child benefits will also be increased by 50% to 26,500 drams.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin