JUNE 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — In an effort to improve safety on Uzbekistan’s roads, the state-linked Muslim Board of Uzbekistan issued a fatwa against bad driving. Bad driving that kills people is now considered a sin under the fatwa. Uzbekistan’s roads are dangerous and deadly crashes are common.
ENDS
— 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
JUNE 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — Yandex Go, the Russia-based ride-hailing service, said that it had complied with new Uzbek legislation that requires internet and social media companies to store data belonging to their users on servers inside Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan, which passed the legislation in April, has said that the law has been introduced to protect people and is pressuring Facebook and other Western companies to comply.
ENDS
— 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
JUNE 2 2021 (The Bulletin) — Masdar, the renewable energy company owned by Abu Dhabi’s state investment fund Mubadala, won an Uzbek government tender to build a 457MW solar power plant in southern Uzbekistan. The plant is part of a wider programme to reorientate Uzbekistan’s power production programme towards green energy.
ENDS
— 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
MARCH 15 (The Bulletin) — Perhaps the gloss is beginning to flake off the Shavkat Mirziyoyev project.
In an unusually long press release, the New York-based Human Rights Watch accused Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan’s president, and his government of tinkering rather than actually making any meaningful reforms in its much vaunted changes to the Criminal Code.
This, Human Rights Watch said, is an opportunity missed as it “falls short of protections to which women, victims of torture, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are entitled under international law”.
For example, on religion the new criminal code relaxes previously harsh rules that could see you put in prison for disseminating religious text but on defamation, which is often used to silence critics of powerful people and business leaders across Central Asia, the law hasn’t changed despite a headline-grabbing announcement last year that it would.
This is stinging criticism from Human Rights Watch.
Since coming to power in 2016 after the death of the reclusive and repressive Islam Karimov, Mirziyovev has made great play of his plans to open up the economy and society. Things have improved, as Human Rights Watch pointed out, but emphasis seems to be changing now. Is Mirziyoyev making the same mistakes as his predecessor and other Central Asian leaders? Is he beginning to believe his own hubris? He was PM under Karimov, after all.
News reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Mirziyoyev has built himself a large dacha, or palace as some people have been calling it, in the hills outside Tashkent is in itself not a surprise, but the denials and cover-up were bizarre and obtuse. It had all the characteristics of a man more concerned with is image than with being straight with his own people.
And there is his family too, which has become increasingly prominent, especially his daughter Saida Mirziyoyeva, who represents her father at official meetings and on overseas trips.
It is too early to draw close comparisons but Karimov also started out talking up a more liberal agenda before switching to autocracy and promoting his own daughter, Gulnara Karimova. Mirziyoyev needs to concentrate on delivering real reforms and not just talking about them.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 12 (The Bulletin) — Remittances in Uzbekistan were 14% higher in January and February this year, at $892m, compared to the same period in 2020, the Uzbek Central Bank said. Remittances, mainly from Russia, are a vital part of Central Asia’s economy. The various movement and work restrictions imposed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic last year dented remittances flows from the region’s migrant workers.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 11 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Central Bank declined to cut its key interest rate from 14% because it said that inflation was still too high. Inflation in Uzbekistan is currently at 11.4%, pushed up by rising domestic demand, an increase in global food prices and a rise in fuel prices. Uzbekistan’s interest rate has measured 14% since mid-2020.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 11 (The Bulletin) — On a two day visit to Pakistan, Uzbek foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov talked up the potential of Pakistan’s ports at Karachi and Gwadar as “gateways to Central Asia”. The landlocked Central Asian republics are continually looking for ways to get access to the sea. The ports at Karachi and Gwadar are being upgraded by China as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Sending goods through them would give Central Asian manufacturers direct access to the Indian Ocean.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 10 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s state railway company released a video that claimed that a luxury retreat built in hills outside Tashkent is for its employees and not for Uzbek Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The video is a response to a report released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty which said that the complex had been built as a palace for Mr Mirziyoyev and that Uzbek Railways have been used to shield its real use.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 9 (The Bulletin) — Turkey and Uzbekistan agreed a deal to strengthen bilateral relations, especially business and economic relations. At a press conference in Tashkent, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Turkey-Uzbekistan relations had great potential and that they would sign a free trade agreement in the “upcoming period”. Turkey sees itself as a force in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and wants to boost its presence and influence.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021
MARCH 9 (The Bulletin) — British retailer Marks & Spencer said that it was launching websites in 46 new markets to sell its clothes, including in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The expansion is part of a plan by Marks & Spencer to wring more value out of its brand from international markets. By opening websites targeting consumers in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, Marks & Spencer is acknowledging that both markets have matured. Marks & Spencer has operated shops in Baku and Almaty since 2014 and 2012.
ENDS
— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021
— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021