Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Dal Engineering signs memorandum to build cement plant in Uzbekistan

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish construction company Dal Engineering signed a memorandum to start building a new $225m cement plant in Uzbekistan. Dal Engineering will partner with state- owned Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine to build a 1.5m tonnes/year plant in the southern region of Surkhandariya by 2017. Slow foreign investment has delayed the project. Once built, the new plant will increase cement production capacity in Uzbekistan by 20%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Telenor suspends execs involved in Uzbek bribe

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norwegian telecoms company Telenor said it had suspended four executives, including COO Richard Olva Aa, while an investigation into alleged bribe paying by VimpelCom in Uzbekistan continues. Telenor owns 33% of VimpelCom.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Uzbekistan looks to European companies for rail upgrade

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan wants to upgrade its railway system and it has turned to European companies for the technology and the know-how.

Temir Yollari, Uzbekistan’s state-owned railway company, signed a €38m ($41m) deal with Spanish train manufacturer Talgo to buy two high-speed electric trains.

The new AVE 250 trains will be delivered in 2017. Temir Yollari is already using two Talgo trains, purchased in 2009, for its Tashkent-Samarkand route, opened in 2011.

The Uzbek government is spending around $400m to complete the rail link by 2016 — a potential windfall for European and other western companies looking for deals in the region.

Once completed, the railway line will half the travel time from Tashkent to Bukhara to around 3-1/2 hours.

In another deal struck this week, Temir Yollari signed a memorandum with French company Alstom to establish a production line for asynchronous traction motors, an advanced electric train engine, which Uzbekistan intends to use on new locomotives.

The asynchronous traction technology has not yet been introduced in the former Soviet Union.

“We appreciate the opportunity to work in Uzbekistan’s attractive investment environment and see this project as mutually beneficial for the parties [and] as the first step in the

development of Alstom’s long partnership with the country,” said Martin Vaujour, VP for Alstom CIS.

On paper, Uzbekistan is improving its legislation. The latest World Bank “Doing Business” ranking praised Uzbekistan for its reforms in the past two years. But it is still regarded as a difficult place. Corruption, bureaucracy and asset grabs by the state have all scarred investors.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

GM Uzbekistan sales fall

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sales of cars by US-Uzbek joint venture GM Uzbekistan to Russia fell by almost 50% in the first 10 months of 2015, to just over 17,000, local media reported. GM Uzbekistan’s share in the Russian market, its most important market, has also fallen to 1.3% from 1.7% in 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Samsung to build a plant in Uzbekistan

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korean Samsung Engineering signed an agreement with Uzbekneftegaz to build a petrochemical plant in Uzbekistan. Samsung said the new aromatics plant is still at its conceptual design phase and did not say when it would be built. Uzbekneftegaz, Uzbekistan’s state-owned oil and gas company, has already collaborated with Samsung on a $700m polymer plan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Uzbek sum drops

NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s Central Bank dropped the value of its sum currency to 2,706 sum/$1, down from 2,635/$1, a drop of 2.6%. On the Black Market, the dollaruz.com website reported that the fall was even greater. Currencies across Central Asia are under increasing pressure from a fall in the value of commodities and a recession in Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Uzbekistan buys high-speed trains

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s railway company placed an order for 38m euros with Spanish train maker Talgo for two high-speed electric trains. The trains are designed for the upgrade of the Samarkand-Bukhara line.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Uzbekistan says it wants foreign investment

NOV. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s government said it wanted foreign investors to buy stakes in state-owned enterprises, part of a privatisation plan it said was designed to bring expertise into some of its biggest companies.

Deputy PM Rustam Azimov made the statement at an investment forum in Tashkent.

“[The plan is] to attract strategic investors who are able to bring new technology and equipment (and) organise the production of modern and competitive products,” Reuters quoted Mr Azimov as saying.

He cherry-picked three companies, seemingly as a teaser to pique foreign investor interest. These were cement maker Kizilkumcement, chemical producer Ferganaazot and electronics plant Foton.

For foreign investors, though, Uzbekistan has always been a complicated to do business in. It holds a high level of natural resources, mainly gold, gas and cotton, but is riddled through with corruption and intrigue. Western companies have previously had their assets taken by the Uzbek state too.

It remains to be seen if Uzbekistan is serious about opening up to foreign investors — and also whether these investors are Western, Korean, Chinese, Russia or from elsewhere.

The Uzbek government does need to raise funds though to deal with the current economic malaise.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Coca-Cola halts Uzbekistan plant?

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Coca-Cola Ichimligi may have suspended its operations in Uzbekistan, according to a report published by US-funded RFE/RL. Tashkent residents said Coca-Cola products have disappeared from shops. Coca-Cola Ichimligi is reportedly linked to Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Pres. Islam Karimov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Korea-Uzbek business to boost

NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – South Korea wants to boost further its investments in Uzbekistan, local media reported quoting government officials. South Korea and Uzbekistan have developed close relations over the past few years. There are thousands of ethnic Koreans living in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)