Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan detains German reporter

NOV. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Almaty-based Edda Schlager, a German freelance journalist, was deported from Uzbekistan for working without accreditation. Uzbekistan severely limits accreditation for foreign journalists and Ms Schlager admitted that she had been working as a journalist on a tourist visa. International interest in Uzbekistan has increased since the death in September of Islam Karimov, who ruled the country since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Sanofi enters the fray in Uzbekistan

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — French pharmaceuticals company Sanofi entered a partnership with Uzbek state-owned Uzfarmsanoat to produce medicines in the country, official media reported. The Uzbek ministries of health and of international trade said that the deal will focus on the production and circulation of flu vaccines.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

ADB gives loan for water to Uzbekistan

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank agreed to give a $120m loan to Uzbekistan to improve water supply in the peripheral districts of the Tashkent region. The districts of Kibray and Zangiota, outside of Tashkent, have been identified as potential industrial hubs and the government plans to establish a special economic zone in Zangiota. Clean water supply and water management have been chronically overlooked in peripheral regions in Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Chinese minister visits Uzbekistan

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In another round of quickfire diplomacy by Uzbekistan, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi travelled to Tashkent to meet acting president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Mr Mirziyoyev has been acting president since the death of Islam Karimov in September and is all but certain to become the full-time president after a presidential election next month.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials meet

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials met in Ferghana City, Uzbekistan, to agree resolutions to seven more border dispute areas, the 24.kg news website reported. The border resolution process is part of a drive by Uzbekistan since the death of Islam Karimov in September to repair damaged relations with its neighbours. 24.kg reported that the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border was 1,378km long and that nearly a third of this has been disputed.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Western banks agree $500m loan for Lukoil subsidiary working in Uzbekistan

NOV. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Uzbek subsidiary of Russian energy company Lukoil received a loan of $500m from various European and Japanese financial institutions to develop the Gissar gas and condensate field in Uzbekistan.

A consortium of banks — Italy’s Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, Russia’s VTB, Dutch lender ING, Japan’s Mizuho Bank, France’s Natixis and Austria’s Raiffeisenbank — has agreed to give the loan to Soyuzneftegaz Vostok, Lukoil’s subsidiary in Uzbekistan.

This is important because, by providing Soyuzneftegaz Vostok with a loan, Western banks are indirectly investing in Uzbekistan and, also, lending Lukoil funds. Lukoil is under US sanctions but not European sanctions.

The five-year loan will help Lukoil expand the Gissar project, which has produced around 1.3b cubic metres/year since 2011. The company plans to grow production to 4.8b cubic metres/year by 2017 and build a gas treatment complex near the field. Earlier this year, Lukoil said it was looking to obtain a loan from South Korean lenders and that it needed a $1b cash injection to com- plete the upgrade.

Sanctions were imposed on Russian companies after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Uzbek delegation visits Ashgabat

NOV. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek deputy PM Ulugbek Rozukulov led a delegation to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, official Turkmen media reported. Mr Rozukulov’s mission is part of a drive by acting president Shavket Mirziyoyev to improve Uzbekistan’s international relations since the death in September of Islam Karimov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Uzbeks and Tajiks face Taliban threat

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A senior Afghan army commander in the north of Afghanistan said that the Taliban was encouraging Uzbek and Tajik radical militants to infiltrate Central Asia. The Pajhwork reported that Lt. Gen. Sher Aziz Kamawal had said that the Taliban was using instability in Kunduz region, on the border with Uzbekistan, as a launchpad for militants to move into Central Asia. Governments in Central Asia have been increasingly concerned about Taliban encroachment north.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Comment: C.Asia and S.Caucasus eye up a Trump presidency, says Kilner

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Donald Trump, the incoming US president, has a long list of issues that need tackling in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, not least the dominance of China and Russia.

Central Asia, in particular, has traditionally been an arena where the world’s great powers have shadow-boxed, testing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This is just as true today as it was during the 19th century’s Great Game between Russia and Britain. Now, though, China has entered the fray and the West is led by the US and not Britain.

Since NATO withdrew most of its forces from Afghanistan in 2013/14, US interest in Central Asia has waned and it has ceded diplomatic, economic and cultural influence to Russia and China.

When she was Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013, Hillary Clinton promoted a new north-south Silk Road running from Central Asia to India. This was to be US soft power in action, a commercial push to rival influences exerted by China through its loans and by Russia through its diplomatic and energy levers. It hasn’t shaped up to much, and Clinton wont now be able to see it through, but Trump, a businessman and reality TV star, may be well-placed to invigorate this north-south Silk Road.

Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus will also be watching his policies on NATO, Russia and Iran.

Georgia has, perhaps, the most to be concerned about. It has struck out on a determinedly Western direction and needs a strong US and NATO as a counterpoint to Russia. If the US’ commitment to NATO wanes, Georgia will be more vulnerable to Russian aggression. Certainly its two breakaway states, Russia-backed Abkhazia and South Ossetia, will feel emboldened.

Barack Obama brought Iran back into the international community by partly lifting sanctions linked to the development of its nuclear sector. Its reemergence was heralded in Central Asia and the South Caucasus as an opportunity. They will be looking to a US led by Trump to boost, and not deflate, Iran’s place in the world. They want Iran to be an economic driver.

And the US’ relationship with Russia is important too. If US-Russia relations don’t improve, and the Russian economy continues to shrink, this filters through to Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

They will be looking for an improvement in US- Russia relations to generate a boost for the Russian economy.

By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Uzbek businessman complains to President

NOV. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a televised show, Olim Sulaimanov, director of a small trading company in Uzbekistan, explained how his company had been raided by Uzbek police, Eurasianet reported. Mr Sulaimanov, whose company exports fruits and vegetables to Russia, appealed to acting-President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to unfreeze his company’s assets.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)