Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan works on reform of electricity market

JUNE 16 2021 (The Bulletin) — Private companies will be able to sell electricity by the hour in Uzbekistan from 2025, the Uzbek government said in a decree, the latest move to alleviate a shortage of power production in the country. The reforms are planned in three stages and should give consumers more choice. Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev has promised various liberal reforms since he came to power in 2016.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbekneftegaz to launch gas-to-liquid plant this year

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JUNE 11 2021 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekneftegaz said that it would launch its first gas-to-liquids plant in Q4 2021. Opening the plant in the south of the country will reduce Uzbekistan’s reliance on imports of diesel and jet fuel. Uzbekneftegaz has been building the $3.6b plant since 2019. It was supposed to start operations in 2020 but the coronavirus pandemic and strikes over pay and conditions have delayed the construction.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbeksitan and Tajikistan agree bilateral deals worth $1b

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JUNE 11 2021 (The Bulletin) — At a meeting in Dushanbe designed to show off their new and strengthen friendship, Uzbek Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Tajik Pres. Emomali Rakhmon signed bilateral deals worth $1b. Relations between the two neighbours have improved markedly since the death in 2016 of Islam Karimov. The bilateral deals were focused on industry and manufacturing.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Russia delivers coronavirus jabs to Uzbekistan

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JUNE 10 2021 (The Bulletin) — Russia delivered another 70,000 doses of its Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine to Uzbekistan, bringing the total it has sent to Tashkent to 240,000. Sputnik-V, the AstraZeneca vaccine and a Chinese vaccine form the core of the Uzbek vaccination programme. It has given at least one vaccine to 2.5m people.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbek police force pious Muslims to shave beards

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JUNE 9 2021 (The Bulletin) — Police in Angren, east Uzbekistan, have forced pious Muslims to shave off their beards, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported by quoting residents. According to the report, police ordered Muslims to their office to watch them shave. Despite talking up a liberal agenda, Uzbek officials are wary of overtly religious Muslims.

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— This story was published in issue 48 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 16 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Russian airport operator eyes up Central Asia

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JUNE 7 2021 (The Bulletin) — Russian regional airport operator Novaport is still interested in signing deals with airports in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan despite the drop in footfall caused by the pandemic, billionaire owner Roman Trotsenko told Russian media. He said that he expects auctions to run airports, including the airport at Nur Sultan, to come up in 2020. Turkey’s TAV signed a deal in May to buy Almaty airport and has also said it will invest in Uzbek airports.

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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbek journalists accuse official of beating them up

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TASHKENT/JUNE 7 2021 (The Bulletin) — Concerns over the Uzbek authorities’ commitment to media freedom have once again been raised after journalists covering the trial in Andijan of three reporters accused of libel said that they had been beaten up by the son of a local official.

This year, the Uzbek government passed a law that bans criticism of Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev ahead of an election in October. This preceded the arrest of several journalists and bloggers, considered to be anti-government.

Western media freedom groups have become increasingly sceptical of statements by Pres. Mirziyoyev, who took over from the reclusive Islam Karimov in 2016, that he wants a more free society and open society in Uzbekistan.

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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbek tax service to stop issuing INNs

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JUNE 7 2021 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s tax service said that it would stop issuing INNs, or tax registration numbers, to Uzbek nationals. Instead, the agency said, the only way of identifying Uzbek nationals through official records will be with their personal identification numbers (PINFL). INNs have been a mainstay of former Soviet states.

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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

ADB to lend $20m to Uzbekistan’s Hamkorbank

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JUNE 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a deal with Uzbekistan’s Hamkorbank to lend it $20m to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses. Christine Engstrom, the ADB’s Private Sector Financial Institutions Division Director, said that small businesses employ 74% of Uzbekistan’s workforce but were struggling to access capital because of the pandemic, especially those in outlying areas.

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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbekistan has applied to join EDB, says adviser

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ALMATY/JUNE 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan has applied to join the Almaty-based intergovernmental Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) which is closely linked to the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Media quoted Grigory Marchenko, a former Kazakh Central Bank chief and now an adviser to the EDB, as saying that the Uzbek government had now made a formal membership application. Mr Marchenko has previously said that the EDB would welcome an application by Uzbekistan.

Applying to join the EDB pushes along Uzbekistan’s potential membership of the EAEU and, with it, potentially deeper regional economic integration. Uzbek Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev has said that Uzbekistan should join the EAEU, which includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus as its members.

The EDB was set up in 2006, nine years before the EAEU. With the addition of Tajikistan, the EDB’s members mirror the EAEU.

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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021