On January 23, the United States through its Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered 131 tons of food aid worth approximately $425,000 to Uzbekistan. This aid will provide 6.5 million meals to the country’s most vulnerable citizens through distribution in over 120 health and social protection facilities providing support to patients in tuberculosis and mental
Kazakhstan Agency of International Development KazAID held a briefing with the participation of representatives of embassies of Central Asian countries on January 22 in Astana. During the briefing Kazakh diplomats presented information on KazAID projects in 2024 to the Embassies of the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Particular attention was focused on the Dostyk
Uzbekistan is a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China. The development of multifaceted relations with China has been, and remains, one of the main priorities of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev wrote in his article, entitled “Uzbekistan and China: millennia-long friendship and cooperation,” published by People’s Daily Online (China)
A round table was held in Tashkent on January 19 to discuss the findings of four expeditions conducted by the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of Central Asia (SIC ICWC) on the dried bed of the Aral Sea. These expeditions, supported by the UN Development Programme from 2019 to 2023, aimed
A Moscow court on January 19 sent a leader of the Uzbek diaspora in Russia, Usman Baratov, to pretrial detention for at least two months on a charge of inciting hatred with his online posts, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reported. Baratov pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stemmed from a post last month related to
The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan organized the launch in Tashkent of a digital platform developed by the social start-up Coozin, aimed to further develop women’s entrepreneurship and increase their self-employment skills by using advanced digital technologies. The Coozin start-up was launched in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has
The World Road Transport Organization (IRU) said the first Chinese TIR truck loaded with electronic products departed from China’s southern city of Shenzhen to reach its final destination, the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, via a new 6,500-kilometer transportation corridor that runs through Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL reported. According to the IRU, the new route, a sign of China’s
On January 10, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) handed over $1.4 million worth of modern energy sector management equipment and software to the Coordinating Dispatch Center (CDC) Energia in Tashkent. The official handover ceremony showcased cutting-edge technology which will allow CDC Energia’s dispatchers to display relevant information for maintaining the region’s energy
A leader of the Karakalpak diaspora in Kazakhstan, Nietbai Urazbaev, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in absentia in Uzbekistan over unprecedented Karakalpak protests in July 2022, has died in a hospital in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported. Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratbai said on January 9 that Urazbaev died of a heart
Trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan amounted to $266 million in 2023, compared to $44 million in 2022, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported with reference to the Afghan Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan totaled $27 million in the past year and imports from Uzbekistan amounted to $239 million, the ministry’s spokesman said. Afghanistan
A groundbreaking cooperative agreement seeking to improve working conditions and prevent forced labor was signed this week for workers, “at all stages of cotton and textile production in Uzbekistan”. Agreement signatories include U.S.-based Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), employers’ Association of Cotton-Textile Clusters of Uzbekistan, the Solidarity Center, and the Uzbekistan Ministry of Employment,
A 38-year-old social media user who accused Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine has been sentenced to 5 years and 1 month in prison, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported. The Kattakurgan District Court in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan handed down the sentence on January 4 to Bunyodjon Boboniyozov, for “insulting or
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will launch joint manufacturing of 12 models of motor vehicles in 2024, the Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic, Daniyar Amangeldiev told a news conference in Bishkek late in December. The Minister said that a joint car assembly plant is being prepared for commissioning, adding that the joint project
The Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan announced the cancellation of restrictions imposed on the country’s transit vehicles in Afghanistan. The agreement was reached in a meeting between high-ranking officials of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan late in December, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported. The Uzbek ministry said that the transportation authorities of both countries have determined the costs
In the next six years, Uzbekistan’s electricity demand will increase from the current 83 billion to 120 billion kilowatt hours, and the country will cover this primarily through renewable energy sources, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on December 27, at the launching ceremony of major projects in the field of green energy. Mirziyoyev said that Uzbekistan
The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on December 27 took part in the ceremony of commissioning and connecting to the power grid of five solar and one wind power plants in six regions of the country. These important investment projects have been implemented with the UAE-based company Masdar and several Chinese companies — China Energy
On December 25, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a government meeting on the development of the electrical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries in Uzbekistan. It was stated at the meeting that over the past five years, production in these three industries has increased 2.6-fold, and their share in the country’s industrial sector has reached 7 percent. The
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Malginov on December 22 and told him that statements by ultranationalist pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin a day earlier are “provocative and may have a negative impact” on Uzbek-Russian relations, RFE/RL reported. Prilepin on December 21 spoke publicly about “the necessity to join Uzbekistan’s territory with Russia.” Russian
Uzbekistan’s Labor Migration Agency said on December 21 that 119 Uzbek nationals who had illegally entered the United States, mostly via Mexico, had been flown back to Tashkent, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported. In a video the agency placed on Telegram, one of those expelled said he paid $5,000 to individuals who had arranged a Mexican-U.S. border
An agreement on joint production of charging stations for electric vehicles was reached between Uzbekistan and China, the Uzbek Ministry of Energy said. A delegation from the Uzbek Research Institute of Renewable Energy Sources visited China last week. During meetings with representatives of the Henan Suda company, the parties discussed the implementation of a project for the
