JULY 25/26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s government stepped into the row between Uzbekistan and Russian mobile operator MTS. It sent a formal note to the Uzbek government noting its concern over the arrest of a handful of MTS executives for tax evasion. In Turkmenistan, MTS said it had resumed operations after being thrown out in Dec. 2010.
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(News report from Issue No. 098, published on July 27 2012)
JULY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – One Kyrgyz border guard died in a shootout with Uzbek soldiers, media reported. The shootout, which occurred in a loosely demarcated border area in southern Kyrgyzstan, underlines both the fragility of peace in the region and the mistrust between the Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
JULY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan formally accused Russian mobile provider MTS of violating the terms of its contract and suspended its operating licence for 10 days.
MTS, which is listed on New York’s stock exchange and operates under the Uzdunrobita brand, denies any wrong-doing and has accused the Uzbek government of trying to steal the company.
The case against MTS appears to boil down to not paying enough taxes. Earlier this month, police in Tashkent arrested a handful of senior Uzdunrobita executives, although the Uzdunrobita CEO had already fled to Moscow, and accused them of tax evasion.
Uzdunrobita is small-fry for MTS. It may have 9.5m subscribers in Uzbekistan but its revenues account for just 3.5% of MTS’s total turnover.
For both sides the row, which has been played since the end of June, is negative publicity.
This is the second time in 18 months that MTS has lost an operating licence in Central Asia. Last January, the Turkmen authorities scrapped a licence and although it has manoeuvred itself into a position to resume operations, MTS is still currently frozen out of Turkmenistan.
Either MTS has become careless or it’s being bullied. For Uzbekistan, whether it has a strong case or not, the row worsens its already tarnished business image.
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(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)
JULY 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile operator MTS temporarily shut down some of its operations in Uzbekistan after the authorities accused it of tax evasion, media reported. MTS, which has 9m subscribers in Uzbekistan, says the accusations are untrue and that the authorities are trying to pressure it into relinquishing control of the company.
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(News report from Issue No. 096, published on July 13 2012)
JUNE 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan re-introduced Soviet-style exit visas for its nationals travelling to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan from June 1, the US-funded RFE/RL reported. Uzbekistan has earned a growing reputation as an isolationist and has had strained relations with both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 095, published on July 6 2012)
JULY 6 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek police detained several senior officials at the local unit of Russian mobile operator MTS for allegedly not paying enough tax, the company said in a statement. MTS denied the charges and said the investigation may force it to close its operations in Uzbekistan where it has 9m subscribers.
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(News report from Issue No. 095, published on July 6 2012)
JUNE 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek authorities warned Russian mobile telecoms provider MTS it may revoke its licence. They said MTS, which has around 9.5m subscribers in Uzbekistan, was providing deteriorating quality and illegally using base stations. Foreign businesses have previously accused the Uzbek government of taking over successful companies.
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(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)
JUNE 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has suspended its membership of the CSTO, a Russia-lead military alliance that includes many of the former Soviet states, a CSTO spokesperson announced in Moscow. No reason was given for Uzbekistan’s decision. Uzbekistan has increasingly earned a reputation as a unilateralist.
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(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)
JUNE 15 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kommersant, a respected Russian business newspaper, quoted sources close to governments in Central Asia describing negotiations with the US over potentially abandoning some military equipment during its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.
The sources said that, as a money-saving plan, senior US generals had discussed leaving trucks, medical and fire-fighting equipment and even armoured vehicles in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
NATO’s exit from Afghanistan is already sensitive and complex. US relations with Pakistan have broken down leaving Central Asia as the only alternative.
This means making deal with government whose human rights record falls, to put it mildly, below Western standards. Russia and China also take a close interest in Central Asia, making NATO’s potential withdrawal through the region even more sensitive.
But NATO has persevered and seemingly managed to carve itself out the route it needs.
Leaving kit in Central Asia though, even if it’s of the non-lethal variety, has not publicly been part of the plan. This has upset the Russians just when NATO needs their support.
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(News report from Issue No. 093, published on June 22 2012)
JUNE 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek authorities launched a new social networking website called YouFace. The Uzbek authorities are notoriously paranoid about the influence of social networking websites and youface.uz is monitored by the authorities. As well as having a similar name to Facebook, it also has a similar layout.
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(News report from Issue No. 091, published on June 8 2012)