Justice - The Times Of Central Asia

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Uzbekistan to Take Measures for Rational Use of Water Resources in Agriculture

Uzbekistan's President, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, led a government session last week focused on strategies for the efficient utilization of water resources. Discussions highlighted that 20% of Uzbekistan's water resources originate within the country, while the rest is sourced from neighboring territories. Ongoing climate shifts are progressively diminishing these water sources, with forecasts projecting potential water deficits of up to 15 billion cubic meters in Uzbekistan by 2030. Despite these challenges, there's notable inefficiency in water usage. A staggering 90% of Uzbekistan's water resources are allocated to agricultural purposes. For instance, irrigating a single hectare of cotton fields consumes 10-11 thousand cubic meters of water yearly, whereas countries with similar climates and soil profiles use 2-3 times less water. The annual expenditure on water management in Uzbekistan amounts to approximately $1 billion, making it the fourth-largest recipient of budget allocations following education, healthcare, and agriculture. Regrettably, due to flawed calculations and persisting outdated methodologies in water resource management, the desired efficacy isn't realized. The president emphasized that the upcoming year will be a transitional phase, shifting toward an emergency mode to conserve water. A primary goal is the concrete lining of canals and ditches. It's estimated that about 14 billion cubic meters, or 36%, are lost annually in natural irrigation systems without yielding any economic benefit. Most significant losses are observed in regions like the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Namangan, Navoi, Khorezm, and Bukhara. The water sector has declared a pivotal year for canal concreting, aiming to concrete 1,500 kilometers next year—four times more than in 2023. By 2025, the target is to concrete at least 2,000 kilometers of canals. Another crucial objective is the adoption of water-saving technologies. Uzbekistan, with 4.3 million hectares under irrigation, has introduced water-saving technologies in 30% of these areas. In these clusters and farms, efficiency gains of 30-40% in water usage alongside increased productivity have been achieved.

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Kazakhstan: Convicted Former Security Chief Massimov Faces New Charges

New charges of money laundering and taking a bribe have been levelled at the imprisoned former chief of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB), Karim Massimov. On November 14th, the KNB's press service said that Massimov is currently in a pretrial detention center in Astana awaiting trial on the new charges. No further details regarding the charges were provided. In April, Massimov, a close ally of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was sentenced to 18 years over his role in the deadly events which followed unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022. His deputies, Anuar Sadyqulov and Daulet Erghozhin, were sentenced to 16 years and 15 years in prison in respectively. A court in Astana found all three men guilty of high treason, attempting to seize power by force, and the abuse of their offices and power. Another former deputy of Massimov, Marat Osipov, was sentenced to three years in prison on a charge of abuse of office at the same trial. Massimov's first deputy, Samat Abish, a nephew of Nazarbayev, was dismissed from his post, but did not face any charges. The 58-year-old Massimov was arrested days after the initially peaceful protests turned into widespread violent unrest and coordinated attacks on government installations which left at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead. The protests began in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen early January 2022 over a sudden hike in the price of fuel, before demonstrations quickly spread into broader unrest against corruption, and perceived injustice.

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Kazakh Citizen Sentenced to Over Six Years for Joining Wagner Mercenary Group

The Qaraghandy regional court in central Kazakhstan sentenced a local resident, Aleksei Shompolov, to six years and eight months in prison for joining Russia's Wagner mercenary group and fighting against Ukrainian forces in May in Bakhmut, where he was injured, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on November 28th. The 34-year-old, who pleaded guilty, was arrested after arriving back in Kazakhstan, where it is a crime to serve as a mercenary abroad. Shompolov's sentence was upheld on November 15th, the court said, adding that his payment from Wagner - 205,590 roubles ($2,300) – had been confiscated.

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“This isn’t Moscow” – Kazakh Oligarchs Scuppered in New York Court

In a tale which reaches from “fraud on an epic scale” in the UK to Donald Trump’s shady former business partners, a long-running case against fugitive banker and oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov and his associates recorded another verdict in the New York Southern District court earlier this month. Yet despite having judgments against him totaling $4.9 billion in Britain alone, over a decade since he fled the UK on a fake passport to avoid three concurrent 22-month sentences for contempt of court, the former Minister for Energy, Industry and Trade in Kazakhstan - who has done business with multiple individuals sanctioned in the West - remains a free man, bemoaning his plight to be a case of “political persecution”. In the early days of Wild West capitalism following the collapse of the USSR, Ablyazov abandoned a career as a nuclear physicist to register a company selling fax machines, photocopiers and computers. By 1998, together with a consortium of investors, Ablyazov acquired a loan to buy Bank Turan Alem - later to become known as BTA Bank - in a privatization auction for a cut-price fee of $72 million. In 2005, he became chairman of the bank following the death of his predecessor, Yerzhan Tatishev, whom Ablyazov has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison in his homeland for ordering the murder of. In May 2019, the District Court of Fairfax, Virginia found Ablyazov’s sister, Gauhar Kusainova guilty of handling over $6 million of assets stolen by her brother from BTA. Already, in September 2018 a UK court had fined Ablyazov’s son-in-law, Ilyas Khrapunov, $500 million for helping him breach an asset freezing order. Ilyas is the son of the former Mayor of Almaty, Viktor Khrapunov, who is accused of embezzlement schemes amounting to at least $300 million and comingling funds with Ablyazov in Trump Organization projects. Viktor and his TV anchorwoman wife fled to Switzerland in August 2008 - allegedly loading up a chartered plane with 18 tonnes of art and antiquities - to join Ilyas, who had established an entity called the Swiss Development Group (SDG) - company slogan: “It’s Good to be Swiss”. By 2014, the Kazakh authorities had identified 58 shell companies and subsidiaries said to be controlled by Ilyas, (that’s nothing compared to Ablyazov’s 1000+) one of which was Triadou SPV. In 2016, Nicolas Bourg, the former Director of Triadou testified the Khrapunovs’ had ordered him to move money out of the US after a California lawsuit was filed against them. “Triadou is a shell entity for SDG,” he said. In the latest round of litigation, seeking to discredit the plaintiff’s witnesses, Mr. Roman for the defense spoke of the “lengths to which BTA Bank was prepared to go to find… Mr. Ablyazov’s allegedly stolen money,” and claimed BTA had paid witnesses, including Ilyas former business partners, Frank Monstrey ($25M) and Felix Sater ($2.7M). Roman argued that “Triadou didn't even know about Ablyazov’s freezing orders in London” and Triadou’s rehabilitation of Flathotel, Cabrini, Syracuse and the Tri-County Mall were not the actions of a shell company. “Triadou doesn't have BTA's money”, he concluded;...

Justice

Fighting corruption and improving access to justice for the most vulnerable in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK (TCA) — The legislative reform process of the Justice system in the Kyrgyz Republic over the last years is truly impressive. A lot of efforts in the reform agenda as well as in the sector on access to justice have been undertaken by the state authorities with the support of international donors and organizations. While the pace of change is truly remarkable, the common citizen’s perception of the “rule of law” system remains still relatively poor leading to a so called “legal nihilism”. Indeed what is the sense of the reforms if the common citizen, the one for which the law is done, cannot still tangibly see the results? Continue reading

Justice

EU launches new project to enhance criminal justice in Kazakhstan

ASTANA (TCA) — The European Union has launched a new project to enhance criminal justice in Kazakhstan, the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan said. Continue reading