Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbek authorities take 16,000 people off terror blacklist

SEPT. 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have removed 16,000 people from a blacklist of 17,000 people with alleged links to extremist groups, media reported. Analysts said the move was another attempt by Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev to pursue more liberal policies and to create a clear departure from Islam Karimov, who ruled the country as an authoritarian dictator.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Lola Karimova quits UN job

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AUG. 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a speech in Samarkand, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, second daughter of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, said that she would step down as the country’s representative to UNESCO. Instead, she said, she wanted to concentrate on running the charity named after her father. Karimova-Tillyaeva is currently based in Europe. She has fallen out with her elder sister Gulnara Karimova who has been kept under house arrest in Tashkent since March 2014. Islam Karimov died in September 2016 after ruling the country since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Uzbekistan frees former UN staff member jailed in 2006

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AUG. 22 (The Conway Bulletin) — The United Nations said that Erkin Musaev, a former staff member who had been running a joint programme with the European Union in 2006 in Tashkent when he was arrested trying to leave Uzbekistan, has been freed. Musaev was imprisoned for various crimes, including embezzlement and espionage. The UN has always said that the crimes have been fabricated. Under Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan has released several political prisoners.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Uzbekistan joins IRENA

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TASHKENT, AUG. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan joined the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organisation set up to help member countries strengthen their sources of green power. IRENA has 152 members. Uzbekistan has previously shied away from joining international organisations. Under the presidency of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, though, it has become open to international cooperation.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Uzbek soum fluctuates heavily

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AUG. 19 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan soum currency has been volatile since last week when Reuters reported that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Central Bank wanted to reform exchange rates. Uzbekistan currently has two operational exchange rates — an official one and an unofficial one. The Black Market rate rose to around 7,300/$1 by Aug. 14, from around 8,400/$1 at the start of the month. It had lost ground by the end of the week, though, and finished at around 8,100/$1.

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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Uzbek CB introduces new bank note

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AUG. 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Reflecting sharp inflationary pressures, the Uzbek Central Bank said that it was going to introduce a 50,000 soum banknote. In June, in a rare statement, the Central Bank said that rising inflation had forced it to increase its key interest rate to 14% from 9%. Earlier this year it introduced a 10,000 soum note. The 50,000 soum note is equivalent to $12 on the official exchange market and around $6 on the unofficial market.

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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Uzbekistan repeals exit visas

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AUG. 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed into law a decree that will scrap exit visas from Jan. 2019, state media reported. Repealing the exit visas is one of the most high-profiles decisions taken by Mr Mirziyoyev who has crafted himself as a moderniser and a reformer since taking over the presidency after the death of Islam Karimov in September 2016.

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(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Moscow court halts Uzbek reporters extradition

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AUG. 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — A court in Moscow suspended the extradition of Uzbek journalist Khudberdi Nurmatov after he said that he would be tortured and killed if sent back to Uzbekistan. Mr Nurmatov is openly gay, a crime in Uzbekistan. He was detained by police in July for allegedly breaking immigration rules. He has lived in Moscow since 2011 and has been trying to claim asylum. Uzbekistan has one of the worst media freedom records in the world.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Uzbekistan says to scrap exit visas

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TASHKENT, AUG. 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan will lift exit-visa requirements, media reported by quoting officials, potentially making it easier for millions of Uzbeks to travel abroad to find work.

Exit-visas are a hated hangover from the Soviet Union and, even if they were not difficult to obtain for most ordinary Uzbeks, were a reminder of the authoritarian nature of the regime. Scrapping them is another indication of the liberal reforms ushered in by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president since September 2016 when Islam Karimov died. He has also promised to change foreign currency controls and also to encourage more foreign investment, as well as relax social controls, such as laws stipulating when bars and restaurants have to close.

Uzbekistan, like the rest of Central Asia, is reliant on remittances sent back from Uzbeks working abroad to bolster its economy. Most of these remittance payments are sent back to Uzbekistan from Russia.

Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said a presidential decree on relaxing exit visas had already been drafted and government agencies were considering various pieces of legislation.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Gulnara was imprisoned in 2015 says Uzbek prosecutor

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TASHKENT, JULY 28 2017 (The Bulletin) — In a rare public statement, Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor-General said that Gulnara Karimova, once considered a potential successor to her father President Islam Karimov, had been tried and found guilty of various financial crimes in August 2015.

Karimova has not been seen or heard of since being placed under house arrest in Tashkent in March 2014. Rumours had even circulated around Tashkent in the months after her father’s death from a heart attack in September last year that she had been poisoned.

The Prosecutor-General’s statement said that the globe-trotting self-styled diva had been the head of a crime gang. “Under the control and assistance of Karimova G. members of an organised crime group committed a number of crimes between 2001 and 2013,” it said.

At one time, during the height of her powers, Karimova had acted as the unofficial gatekeeper to Uzbekistan, demanding bribes of hundreds of millions of dollars for market access. Swedish-Finnish mobile operator Telia is selling out of its FSU subsidiaries because of the reputational damage caused by a series of investigations showed that it had paid Karimova $300m to set up a company in Uzbekistan in 2007/8.

Always despised by ordinary Uzbeks who hated her opulence while they struggled, the latest revelations about her wealth have further dented her reputation.

In Tashkent, a Bulletin correspondent said that people reacted with disgust and fury about the news the Karimova had headed a gang that had stolen and extorted hundreds of millions of dollars.

“I am outraged reading today’s news,” said a 31-year-old teacher.

“My neighbour was sentenced to seven years for eluding taxes worth just 10m soum ($2,500). Imagine seven years for just 10m soum and five years for a nationwide raid. What justice?”

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on Aug. 5 2017)