Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Blast at Uzbek chemical factory kills five

FEB. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A blast at a chemical plant in Ferghana, east Uzbekistan, on Feb. 23 killed several people, the Uzbek government said.

It declined to give any more details about the blast, other than to report that an investigation had been set up, but the Sputnik news agency quoted a source at the fertiliser factory as saying that at least five people had been killed and that several more had been injured.

“A total of five people have been killed at the site of the explosion, all of them were part of a repair team. Several others are now in a hospital,” the source told Sputnik, a Russian news agency.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that the blast occurred at the ammonia production facility of the Farg’onaazot company which produces fertilisers.

Analysts will look at how Presi- dent Shavkat Mirzioyev, in power since September when Islam Karimov died, and his government handle this industrial accident – both releasing information about it and dealing with any potential local anger.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan cancel flight at last minute

DUSHANBE, FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After months of build- up and a successful dry-run, the start of a regular commercial flight between Dushanbe and Tashkent was cancelled at the last minute.

Both sides blamed the other for cancelling what would have been the first regular service between the Tajik and Uzbek capitals for 25 year and a tangible sign that relations between the two countries had started to improve after years of feuding.

Somon Air, Tajikistan’s main airline, was due to make the flight, a repeat of a one-off flight it made earlier this month. It said that Tashkent airport had contacted it and said that permission to make the flight had been withdrawn for security reasons. Tashkent airport denied this and said that the flight had been cancelled because Somon Air had failed to submit the correct paper- work in time.

Having tried to pin the blame on Tashkent airport for the flight failing to fly, Somon Air then admitted it had been at fault and promised to make the flight over the “next few days”.

Media later report that Somon Air had fired Alisher Rustamov, director of commercial operations, for failing to ensure that the flight took off.

Relations between Uzbekistan and its neighbours have improved markedly since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became president at the end of last year. His predecessor, Islam Karimov, was known to be cantankerous and relations with his neighbours had soured during his presidency. He died in September 2016 and his daughter, Gulnara, who had harboured ambitions to succeed him, was sidelined.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Swiss private bank may have failed to stop Uzbek money laundering

FEB. 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swiss prosecutors confirmed that they were investigating the private Geneva-based bank Lombard Odier for failing to prevent money laundering by Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s former president Islam Karimov.

The investigation is the first time that a Western bank has been directly linked to a bribe-taking racket run by Ms Karimova. She took bribes worth hundreds of millions of dollars from telecoms companies looking to access the Uzbek market in 2007/8.

Lombard Odier is one of the oldest and most respected names in Swiss private banking and the investigation may signal the start of a deeper and wider probe into how Western banks have helped, or at least failed to stop, Ms Karimova’s money laundering. So far only the telecoms companies — Telia, Telenor and Vimpelcom — have had their links with Ms Karimova scrutinised.

“The investigations are being made on the basis of information revealed by criminal investigations … into allegations of money laundering involving suspects that include the daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan,” Reuters quoted Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General as saying.

The probe had first been reported by the Bilanz magazine.

Ms Karimova has been under house arrest in Tashkent since 2014 and her closest associates have been jailed.

Lombard Odier also released a statement saying that it was cooperating with the investigation and that it had reported suspicious transactions to the Swiss authorities in 2012.

Before returning to Tashkent at the end of 2013, Ms Karimova had been based in Geneva as Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the UN. After Lombard Odier’s report of suspicious transactions in 2012, the Swiss authorities froze bank accounts linked to her which held 800m Swiss francs ($795m).

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Uzbek president to visit Kazakhstan

FEB. 14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Continuing his outreach to neighbours, Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that he would also visit Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev in the first half of 2017. The potential emergence of Uzbekistan as an economic powerhouse in Central Asia under Mr Mirziyoyev, who took over from the presidency after Islam Karimov died in September, may challenge Kazakhstan’s dominance.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

Uzbek president to visit Moscow

FEB. 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev will make his first visit to Moscow as Uzbekistan’s leader in April, media reported quoting his press team. The trip is likely to include a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin met with Mr Mirziyoyev during the funeral of former president Islam Karimov in September. He backed Mr Mirziyoyev as president.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

Uzbek authorities release banker from jail

FEB. 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan have released Rustam Usmanov, who once owned a bank and a string of other business, after 19 years in prison, RFE/RL reported. RFE/RL quoted a relative of Mr Usmanov as saying that he was released on Feb. 13. The move may be part of a general softening of tone in Uzbekistan after the death of Islam Karimov, ruler for 25 years, and the emergence of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Mr Usmanov is credited with setting up Uzbekistan’s first bank in the early 1990s. The 69- year-old was convicted of fraud in 1998.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

Georgian police arrest US man

FEB. 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Georgia said that they had arrested a US citizen who is wanted in Uzbekistan on terrorism charges. They didn’t give any more details of the detained man except that they had started extradition proceedings. The man was arrested in the Black Sea town of Batumi. The countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus are trying to dampen growing Islamic extremism activity in the region.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

ABD chief heads to Uzbekistan

FEB. 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Takehiko Nakao, the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will visit Uzbekistan later this month, the Trend news agency reported quoting the ADB’s Tashkent office, raising the possibility of a major cash injection for Uzbek business. Azernews reported that the ADB was lining up loans worth $2.1b for various sectors of Uzbekistan’s economy, including its power sector. Earlier this month the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sent a high-profile delegation to Tashkent for talks with senior officials.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

Uzbekistan requests extradition for Karimov nephew

FEB. 15 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan has put in an extradition request with the authorities in Ukraine for Akbar Abdullaev, the nephew of Islam Karimov, local media reported. Abdullaev was arrested by Ukrainian authorities when he flew into Ukraine in mid-January. Uzbek prosecutors have accused him of money laundering. Critics of the government have accused it of trying to silence the Karimovs, who ruled Uzbekistan for 25 years until his death in September. Gulnara Karimova, his daughter, is under house arrest. Mr Abdullaev is the son of Karimov’s wife’s sister.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)

Uzbeks use Morgan Freeman to promote film

FEB. 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s cinema licensing agency blocked the release of an Uzbek-made action movie called ‘Rogue’ because posters advertising the film had shown an image of US actor Morgan Freeman, suggesting the he played a major role in it. He didn’t, as it happens, have any role in the movie which is hooked around the story of an Uzbek police chief fighting off assassins.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)