| December 12-December 19, 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Uzbek president makes 1999 Year of Women
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Uzbek President Islam Karimov has issued a decree making 1999
the Year of Women.
According to the decree, read out on Uzbek TV on Thursday
9th December, a commission is to be set up which will work out
a programme designed to "increase the role of women in the
family and in building the state and society, and also further
improve the system for protecting their legal, social, economic
and spiritual interests" .
This programme should cover improved legislation to
protect women's interests and proper monitoring of the
implementation of such legislation, better child and maternity
protection, health care, improved education and more academic
study of gender problems, greater involvement of women in
business and also in state bodies, unions, political parties
and NGOs.
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Moldovan President to visit Uzbekistan
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Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi is to discuss the prospects
for further cooperation with Uzbekistan and sign a number of
documents during his first official visit to the republic
beginning on Thursday 17th December, the Russian news agency
Interfax reported on Tuesday 15th, quoting the Moldovan
ambassador in Tashkent, Nicolae Osmochescu.
Lucinschi, who will be accompanied by a large delegation
of business representatives, will discuss, in particular,
cooperation within the framework of the TRACECA (Transport
Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) project.
A joint statement on advancing cooperation as well as
agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and the exchange
of legal information are due to be signed.
Uzbekistan is Moldova's fourth most important trade
partner after Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and during the first
nine months of the year, trade turnover between the two
countries amounted to 6m dollars, the agency said.
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Brief news
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On November 27 the Parliament of Portugal ratified the agreement between Uzbekistan and the European Union signed in 1996 during President Karimov's visit to Florence. Portugal is the 13th EU-member-state that has ratified the agreement which will come into force after all fifteen EU member-states will have ratified it. | President Karimov appointed Ummat Mirzaqulov khokim of Tashkent province following a special session with the province's people's deputies where he criticized the province for poor economic results and corruption. Consequently the former province khokim is to blame. However Erkin Ruziev had been appointed khokim to Samarkand province a month earlier as one of the experienced leaders. Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Russia Shoqosim Shoislamov presented his credentials to the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin on December 15.
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Uzbekistan to tender metal plant
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Uzbekistan will announce an international
tender to buy a 46.5 stake, pegged at $478 million, in metals producer Almalyk
Metallurgical Plant on Tuesday, a local newspaper said on Friday.
"The commission on the tender will announce that on December 15, 1998 the
international tender to buy 46.5 percent of shares in Almalyk will go ahead,"
Chastnaya Sobstvennost newspaper quoted a state property committee official
as saying.
The government has repeatedly postponed the sale of a large minority stake in
Almalyk, whose assets were estimated last summer at 69.8 billion sums, or
around $1 billion, according to the then exchange rate of the Central Bank.
The Central Asian state's government holds a 51 percent stake in the plant.
The plant, located near the capital Tashkent, is Uzbekistan's only producer of
copper and silver and the second largest producer of gold. It also produces zinc,
lead and molybdenum.
The plant has said it produced 115,000 tonnes of copper, around 77 tonnes of
silver and 13 tonnes of gold in 1998.
The official said bids would have to be submitted by January 15 with a payment
of $10,000 and proposals should be received by March 15.
"In the time until May 1, 1999 the tender commission will analyse the offers," the
official said, adding that the criteria for bidders would be the size of the payment
and proposed development plans.
Another state property committee official said earlier this year that companies
interested in participating in the tender included South Korea's conglomerate
Daewoo Corp, U.S. company Gerald Metals, Switzerland's Glencore AG and a
consortium of Germany's Thyssen AG, Siemens AG and Sweden's Svedala.
Other possible bidders include Indonesia's Bakrie Group, Japan's Mitsui & Co
Ltd and several Russian companies.
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Tashkent hosts Gershwin Centennial
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The Embassy of the United States of America in Tashkent in cooperation with the
National Symphonic Orchestra of Uzbekistan hosted two concerts celebrating the
centennial of great American composer George Gershwin on December 11 and 12
at the "Turkistan" palace. Well-known American musical artists Daniel Washington
(baritone) and John Ferguson (piano) performed Gershwin's pieces with the
Symphonic Orchestra. Uzbek Government officials, members of the diplomatic corps,
business circles and the local artistic community were the U.S. Ambassador's guests at
the concerts. The concert was also the occasion of the world premiere of "An American in
Tashkent." by Uzbekistani composer Alisher Latifzoda. The concerts are sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent. D. Washington and
J. Ferguson also conducted master-classes for students of the Tashkent conservatory and
Uspenskiy musical school to introduce them to the American music and culture and learn
about Uzbek music. They donated a collection of musical scores of "Two Centuries of
American Musical Classics" to both schools. Tickets for the concerts are available to the public at the box-offices of the Turkiston palace and Zarafshan concert hall.
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Japan offers financial assistance to Uzbek university
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The Japanese government has decided to
provide financial assistance worth 39.8 million yen (around 340,000 dollars) to
the Uzbek University of World Economy and Diplomacy under the Uzbek
Foreign Ministry.
The Japanese aid provided gratis will be used to buy equipment for lingaphone
rooms and video-projectors.The equipment is meant as a teaching aid to ensure
better knowledge of foreign language, and above all, the Japanese language, by
university students. The equipment is expected to arrive next spring.
Corresponding documents to this effect were exchanged on Monday by Uzbek
Foreign Minister Abdulasis Kamilov and Japanese Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Koiti Obata.
The University of World Economy and diplomacy was established In Uzbekistan
in 1992 shortly after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. About 1.000
students study there now, using outdated Soviet-ere equipment.
According to Japanese diplomats, a decision on making disbursement to the
Uzbek University was adopted at the Uzbek university' request which faces
financial shortages and cannot afford technical innovation.
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Presidential decree
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President Islam Karimov issued a decree on the transformation of the
Uzbek State Oil and Gas Corporation into a National Holding Company "Uzbek Oil and Gas".
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President awards Kyrgyz writer
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President Karimov awarded very well-known writer and politician from Kyrgyzstan
Chingiz Aytmatov an order "Buyuk Hizmatlari Uchun" (For Outstanding Merits) in connection
with his 70th jubilee.
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