OCT. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuel shortages are spreading across Uzbekistan, including in Tashkent, media reported. Photos reportedly showing drivers queuing for fuel in the Uzbek capital are important because it had previously been less effected by shortages than the rest of the country. The Uzbek government denies there are fuel supply problems.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lara Fabian, a Belgian-Italian singer, pulled out of a concert in Tashkent organised by Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Ms Fabian said she pulled out because she was concerned about the Uzbek government’s human rights record.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been a difficult year for Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov and, perhaps, his heir.
Her sister Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva disowned her and told the world that Ms Karimova’s chances of becoming president were almost nil. She’s also had her property seized in Europe and become the focus of a money laundering investigation.
Now Ms Karimova has also had to deal with the humiliation of watching Lara Fabian, a Belgian-Italian singer, pull out of a concert she had organised in Tashkent.
On her Facebook site, Ms Fabian said that when she found out who the event organiser was, she quit.
She said she had been shocked and upset by criticism from media which made her out to be a stooge of the Uzbek government. Human rights groups accuse the Uzbek authorities of torturing prisoners and dissenters.
“My career and commitments reflect my values and I am shocked that you would think I can endorse a system that does not respect human rights,” she wrote.
Clearly performing for Ms Karimova or any other members of the Uzbek elite is poor PR for a European singer.
And Ms Karimova took the news personally. She vented on her twitter account that foreign forces had persuaded Ms Fabian to pull out of the concert.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It was a short message, sent via the WhatsApp and Viber instant messaging systems, but it still had a powerful effect.
On Oct. 25 subscribers to the Beeline brand in Uzbekistan received a message which said the authorities had decided to revoke its licence.
Russian mobile operator VimpelCom owns the Beeline brand which it operates in Uzbekistan through its Unitel subsidiary.
The message, although quickly rejected as a fake by Beeline, sent its clients scurrying to its main rival, Ucell, which is operated by Sweden’s TeliaSonera through the locally registered company COSCOM.
It’s bad timing for VimpelCom which is already facing an uphill battle to survive in Uzbekistan.
Uzbek tax inspectors have launched an investigation into its affairs. It has also run into conflict with the mobile regulators who previously turned down its request to expand its coverage.
Last year, VimpelCom’s main Russian rival MTS left Uzbekistan, complaining of harassment from the authorities.
The fake message and the panic it spread among subscribers would have damaged Beeline just when it needs to appear strong.
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)
OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov flew to Latvia for his first state visit to the EU since visiting Brussels nearly three years ago. Mr Karimov met his Latvian counterpart Andris Berzins to discuss bilateral relations and other issues.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Utter the word Borat to a Kazakh diplomat and he or she may cringe.
It took years to purge the image of Kazakhstan — which wants to be seen as a modern, progressive country — from Borat, the boorish fictional character created by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for his 2006 film “Borat: Cultural learnings of America make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan”.
Now, though, it appears that the BBC has created another comedy to, potentially at least, poke more fun at the Central Asian republics.
The BBC will broadcast the first episode of its new three-part comedy on Oct. 23 called “Ambassadors”. It’s essentially a sideways, tongue-in-cheek look at the British diplomatic service and the challenges of a foreign posting in a little-known and far-away country.
The twist, for Central Asia at least, is that the fictional little-known and far-away country is called Tazbekistan. No prizes for guessing the mish-mash of republics it is based upon.
And there’s more. The pre-broadcasting blurb goes further. The plot is based around an incoming British ambassador’s attempts to get to grips with Tazbekistan’s idiosyncrasies. This includes being oil-rich and having a woeful human rights record.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia signed into law an agreement with the Uzbek government that it hopes will defend Russian businesses in Uzbekistan.
The statement on the Russian government website was vague but also unequivocal. It said simply that the agreement would boost investments between Russia and Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan has developed a reputation for being a notoriously difficult country for private companies to operate in. Businesses talk of intimidation from the authorities, police raids and unscheduled tax inspections.
Earlier this year Russian mobile operator MTS closed down its Uzbek subsidiary after a series of run-ins with the authorities.
This month VimpelCom, MTS’s main Russian rival, also complained of unscheduled tax inspections by the authorities in Tashkent.
So, the ratification by Russia’s government of an agreement with Uzbekistan to promote and protect each other’s business interests is, at least, timely. Time will tell just how useful it is too.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan skipped a meeting in Bishkek to discuss details of a dam Kyrgyzstan intends to build across the Naryn River, Kyrgyz media reported. Kyrgyzstan’s plans to build a dam upstream of Uzbekistan have strained already tense relations between the two countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan signed deals to export 680,000 tonnes of cotton fibre at its annual trade fair in Tashkent, a similar amount to last year, Uzbek state media reported. Western companies have boycotted Uzbek cotton over concerns it uses child labour but China and other countries, such as Bangladesh, have increased purchases.
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)
OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s state-owned energy company Uzbekneftegaz has denied reports that households across the country are facing a shortage of gas supplies, local media reported. People living in rural areas of Uzbekistan have previously talked of gas shortages to a Conway Bulletin correspondent.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)