Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

Kyrgyz plan to arm border area

SEPT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan lawmakers want to arm villagers living in disputed areas along its borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

A majority of Parliamentarians debating the plan say they want to help people defend themselves but the military has said the strategy will only worsen already tense cross- border relations.

The initiator of the legislation, Bakyt Torobayev of the Progress parliamentary splinter faction claims the initiative will save budget money. Paying a civilian that already lives on the border will cost less than housing, feeding and paying a soldier, he has argued.

Kyrgyzstan’s Defence Council issued a statement as parliament discussed the legislation. “(Arming) ordinary citizens without higher or military education and preparation for border service, can have consequences, including their potential participation in illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and contraband,” it said.

Medet Tiulegenov, a political science professor at the American University of Central Asia was also against the plan.

“This issue has been raised in the context of insufficient formal security on the border,” Mr Tiulegenov told The Conway Bulletin. He also said that security issues are beyond the parliament’s formal mandate.

“But when government itself lacks a clear vision on border issues and security in the country, MPs exploit that lack of clarity and try to make a name for themselves,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)

Uzbekistan blocks opposition wife

SEPT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan denied entry to the country to an exiled opposition leader’s wife and son, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported. RFE/RL said Bahodir Choriev’s wife and son had tried to enter Tashkent via a flight from Istanbul.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Remittances falling for Uzbekistan

SEPT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances to Central Asia from sanctions-hit Russia have fallen by around 8%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said. Heaviest hit in Central Asia is Uzbekistan which sends back the most remittances from Russia, although this forms a lower proportion of GDP compared to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Uzbekistan announces more utility price rises

SEPT. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s government announced new electricity power price rises, the second of the year, from Oct. 1.

Like other Central Asian economies, sanctions on Russia have hit Uzbekistan too. Uzbek infrastructure is also groaning under increased demand, triggering energy shortages. Petrol shortages have also been reported for the past year.

Now Uzneftgaz, the state energy company, has said that prices for gas will rise by 10%. Water and heating prices will also rise by 7%.

These increases follow a 9% rise in April and analysts will be monitoring closely people’s reaction.

Rising utility prices can trigger widespread social unrest and with Uzbekistan in a state of flux it is vulnerable. The apparent arrest of Uzbek president Islam Karimov’s eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova, on various economic charges has unsettled politics and petrol shortages coupled with utility price increases have hit its economy.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Uzbekistan plans to construct wind farm

SEPT. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan plans to start construction of its first wind farm by 2016, pro-government media quoted the director of the institute of energy at Uzbekistan’s Science Academy, Hakim Muratov, as saying. He said Germany’s GEO-NET Umweltconsulting is assessing the best spots.

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(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Photos show Uzbek President’s daughter

SEPT. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – More news stories have emerged to suggest that Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, has been charged with various economic crimes.

The most pressing of these are three photos allegedly showing Ms Karimova under house arrest in Tashkent. These were released by her PR agent in London.

In the photos, which are undated, three men in military style fatigues appear to be pushing and pulling a gaunt- looking Ms Karimova. Gone are her designer dresses, and expensive make-up. Instead Ms Karimova wears a tracksuit top and has her hair tied back in a simple bunch.

A statement alongside the photos said they showed that Ms Karimova was staving and that she wouldn’t face a fair trial in Uzbekistan.

“She [Gulnara] is willing to travel to any court where the rule of law is upheld so she can clear her name,” the statement said. “The fact that an Uzbek military court — which sits in secret — has already found her associates to be guilty makes it almost impossible for Gulnara tried fairly in the normal Uzbek judicial process.”

There is, no doubt, a kernel of truth in all this. It’s more difficult to see, though, who is going to come to the aid of Ms Karimova. She is reviled in Uzbekistan, where she was once touted as a successor to her father, and is liked hardly any more outside Uzbekistan.

Ms Karimova has been under house arrest for most of this year. Her close associates have already been jailed for a mix of crimes. Although it’s unclear exactly what Ms Krimova will be charged with, she is probably facing a prison sentence.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek car sales to Russia fall

SEPT. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan sold 20% fewer cars in Russia between January and August this year than it did during the same period in 2013, media reported. Russia is GM Uzbekistan’s main market. The data is important as a macro indicator of how the slowdown in the Russian economy, because of sanctions, is impacting Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek cotton harvest begins

SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Opposition Uzbek websites reported that the annual cotton harvest had begun. This is important as human rights groups have accused Uzbekistan of using forced human labour to pick the cotton. One news outlet, uznews.net, said 40% of medical staff in one region had been sent out to pick cotton.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek election campaign starts

SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Campaigning officially began in Uzbekistan for an election to its 150-seat parliament set for Dec. 21, media reported.The election is largely a formality as all the parties are pro- presidential. Uzbekistan has been described as one of the most repressive and least democratic countries in the world.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

The World Nomadic Games strike a Kyrgyz chord

CHOLPON-ATA/Kyrgyzstan, SEPT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In front of a packed hippodrome in this provincial town of shores of the mountain-ringed Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan A beat Kyrgyzstan B to win gold in the main event of Kok-Boru at this inaugural Nomadic Games.

Amid the enthusiastic roars of local Kyrgyz, foreign diplomats cheered on half-heartedly between snipes about graft and the hippodrome’s overloaded portaloos.

While the World Nomadic Games was designed to unite all countries of the Turkic-speaking world, it retained a very local flavour throughout, with the hosts cruising to victory in the medal table — the majority of the competitors were Kyrgyz — and poor planning abounding. None of the presidents of the competing states — Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — showed up as hoped before the games began.

The Kok-Boru on July 14 was spectacular, however. Exhibition games of Kok-Boru, a polo-like game played with a dried goat carcass, are common at tourist-focussed festivals throughout the country. This one was far more competitive, with the captain of Kyrgyzstan’s A team sporting a battle-inflicted gash across his forehead as he lead his team to victory over the B team.

Russia’s federal Altai Republic and Turkey claimed silver and bronze in the event respectively. Following a reported disagreement over the rules of Kok-Boru — or Kokpar to the Kazakhs — neighbouring Kazakhstan refused to send a team.

Also on Sept. 14, to the chuckles of local spectators, horses belonging to former Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov claimed the bronze and silver medals for the 2.5 km flat race. Babanov’s weakness for stallions is legendary.

He was jettisoned from the government amid rumours he had accepted a racehorse a bribe for securing a foreign investment for a Turkish businessmen in 2013.

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(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)