JAN. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz soldiers accused Uzbekistan of shelling their positions around the border in the south of the country, media reported. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan often trade barbed comments and accuse each other of infringing one another’s territory around their shared border areas. Analysts have said these disputes could destabilise the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)
JAN. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) -Swedish telecoms company Teliasonera said that it would write $622m off the value of its Uzbek unit that it wants to sell. A corruption scandal has enveloped the Uzbek unit of Teliasonera and it has said that it wants to sell its entire Eurasian operations.
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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)
JAN. 11 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Anti-terrorist operations by Pakistan’s military along its border with Afghanistan have pushed Islamist fighters north, increasing the threat posed by the Taliban to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said.
The ICG said these battle-hardened radicals had played a key role in briefly capturing Kunduz, on the border with Tajikistan, last year.
“Insecurity in Afghanistan’s northern provinces, including Taliban control of districts across from Tajikistan, has increased pressure, with risk that battle-experienced Islamic militants could link up with even small numbers of potential allies inside the country,” ICG wrote.
The ICG is an influential voice. Its report sides with Russia’s analysis that stability along Central Asia’s southern border has worsened.
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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)
JAN. 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Amid low energy prices and economic strains, Russia’s state- owned Gazprom is reshaping its gas relations with countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
It is effectively buying gas from Central Asia to sell on to Europe, China and, partly, to the South Caucasus.
Gazprom confirmed it will stop gas imports from Turkmenistan and, at the same time increase purchases from neighbouring Uzbekistan to 3.1b cubic metres.
“The basis for this decision is the changed situation on the international gas market, as well as certain economic and financial issues arising from the Gazprom’s exports,” it said in a statement.
Gazprom didn’t release price details with either Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan but its statement did confirm shifting alliances in Central Asia. Previously, Russia had imported heavily from Turkmenistan. This flow, though, has fallen as relations between the two countries grew increasingly strained. Turkmenistan wants to supply Europe with gas, via Azerbaijan and Turkey, putting it in direct competition with Russia.
Last year, Turkmenistan effectively signalled that Russia had stopped paying for its gas.
But Gazprom needs to buy Central Asian gas to honour its deals with China and Europe, as well as making new deals in the South Caucasus.
Gazprom already supplies Armenia with gas and is negotiating export deals with Georgia and Azerbaijan who both need to meet domestic power consumption.
Rovnag Abdullayev, president of Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR, met with Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s CEO, in December to discuss 2016 volumes.
“The possibility of increasing [Russian gas] supplies taking into account the prospects for growth in natural gas consumption in the country was considered,” SOCAR said in a statement.
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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
DEC. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Chinese consortium has supplied 11 locomotives to Uzbekistan as part of an ongoing partnership. CNTIC and CNR Dalian fulfilled a $44.39m contract they signed with Uzbekistan’s railway company in 2011. A loan from China EximBank financed 95% of the cost.
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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
DEC. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A UN court dismissed a $400m claim by British mining company Oxus Gold against Uzbekistan after the Uzbek government took control of its stake in a gold mine in 2011, a blow to the company’s ambition of recovering cash from its former asset.
The UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) instead awarded $10.2m in damages to Oxus for what it said was a breach of a UK-Uzbekistan Bilateral Investment Treaty on tax issues.
Oxus chairman Richard Shead said that he was disappointed that the UN court had failed to uphold its claim of $400 for what he described as the expropriation of its assets at the Amantaytau Gold Fields (AGF) and the Khandiza deposits.
“I’m devastated by the decision of the arbitration award in relation to Oxus Gold and will continue to work with the company’s lawyers to extract as much value as possible for shareholders of the company,” Mr Shead said.
The UN court has not made clear why it turned down Oxus Gold’s application for damages. Uzbekistan has not commented.
Ozux had owned a 50% stake in the Amantaytau Goldfields JV in the Kyzylkum desert. It lost control of this stake in 2011 after the government ran an audit of the mine and accused Oxus of environmental damage, failing to pay enough tax and not meeting its investment obligations.
Eric McGlinchey, professor at George Mason University who focuses on litigation of Central Asian property, said that Oxus may turn to another court to look for another, more favourable, verdict.
“The $10m the tribunal awarded for Uzbekistan’s violation of fair treatment standards may allow Oxus to tread water a little longer in the hope of receiving a more favourable verdict from a different court,” Mr McGlinchey told The Bulletin.
Western firms have been disparaging of the investment climate in Uzbekistan and will be dismayed by the UN court’s decision against Oxus.
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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
DEC. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan is not prepared to support the creation of a free trade zone with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as some other members have suggested, first deputy PM Rustam Azimov told media. Russia and China dominate the SCO which is focused on Central Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — GM-Uzbekistan, General Motors car-making venture in Uzbekistan, increased retail prices across its product line by up to 30%, the podrobno.uz news agency reported. Like the rest of the region, Uzbekistan has been facing a devaluation in its sum currency while inflation has increased.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Swedish court sentenced Yury Zhukovsky, an Uzbek national, to 18 years in prison for the attempted murder of dissident Obid-kori Nazarov in February 2012, in a case that intensified attention on Uzbekistan’s human rights record.
The prosecutor in the trial accused the Uzbek government of ordering the murder of Mr Nazarov who had fled Uzbekistan to Sweden in 2006. He had been a popular cleric who preached against the government.
The judge, though, said that it was not possible to rule on who may have ordered the murder.
Zhukovsky was caught on CCTV camera in a shop in the remote northern town of Stromsund hours before Mr Nazarov was shot in the head with a revolver. Mr Nazarov survived the attempted murder but has been left with brain damage.
Human rights groups have criticised Uzbekistan record. They have said that the government pursues its enemies abroad.
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(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)
DEC. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The German military closed its base at Termez, Uzbekistan, near the border with Afghanistan. Rent costs for the base had increased to €16m ($17.3m) per year, up from €2.9m ($3.15m) per year in 2002. Germany had used the base as part of a logistics route into Afghanistan.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)