LONDON (TCA) — Was it “human error”? Was it “technical”? Or was it just the fog? Whatever caused the terrible accident with the Turkish Boeing that crashed on a Kyrgyz village on January 16 should be revealed after the black boxes have been examined. What is probably almost certain is that Kyrgyzstan’s air navigation services are not always functioning as they should. Continue reading
9 years ago
BISHKEK (TCA) — Contradicting reports referring to the Turkish authorities have spread all over the media for more than a week following the deadly attack on an Istanbul nightclub. Even though IS has claimed responsibility it remains unclear who the perpetrator was and on whose behalf he acted. Continue reading
9 years ago
LONDON (TCA) — For people in the heart of Central Asia, and especially those bearing state responsibilities, determining one’s fears means looking south and determining one’s hopes means looking north and east. Governments now pin their hope on regional economic integration, but that remains easier to profess than to make it happen. Continue reading
9 years ago
BISHKEK (TCA) — Call it stabilisation, call it stagnation. Another year has passed in which Central Asia’s national economies remained aloof from overall collapse. For a badly needed breakthrough, drastic measures needed have been confined to conference rooms and far away from reality. Continue reading
9 years ago
LONDON (TCA) — “Classical” cases such as the massive amounts of money embezzled by former BTA bank chief Mukhtar Ablyazov and ex-mayor of Almaty Viktor Khrapunov have been haunting Kazakh law enforcers for well over a decade. But white collar crime, meaning not bribes and extortions but straightforward swindle and theft, have become endemic in Kazakhstan during the last couple of years. Continue reading
9 years ago
BISHKEK (TCA) — In Kazakhstan, a crooked private entrepreneurial sector emerged in the early years of independence and “poisoned” the state-run part of the economy. In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the opposite happened as corrupt regimes entangled the private sector, forcing entrepreneurs to comply with white collar crime in state echelons and thus become involved in it themselves. The case of Uzbekistan is more complicated, since it appears to involve international fraud chains along with local culprits. Continue reading
9 years ago
OSH, Kyrgyzstan (TCA) — Traumatized by a six-year civil war and next door to terror-haven Afghanistan, Tajikistan seems to be a most unlikely place for uppity crime to flourish. Yet, it does. In contrast to most other former Soviet republics, where white collar crime in the private sector and state corruption have developed independently, Tajikistan is an example of endemic fraud in the private sector which originates from embezzlement of state funds. Continue reading
10 years ago
BISHKEK (TCA) — White collar crime is a global problem, but there is no such thing as a global solution. Transnational law is powerless and even often abused by criminals rather than helping to bring them to justice. This means that national jurisdictions can only prosecute and try major-scale fraudsters and embezzlers on their territory, while the perpetrators freely move themselves and their bounties in offshore havens. This article is the first part of a series of four articles covering the issue in Central Asian countries. Continue reading
10 years ago
LONDON (TCA) — Deadlines have never been taken too seriously in Kazakhstan, and the quarter-century delay in the construction of the Almaty Underground and the Kashagan offshore oil drama are just examples of it. Due to such long hauls, projects are overtaken by economic and other realities – and the Expo 2017, the event that should put Kazakhstan and its capital Astana in the spotlight once and for all, seems to be no exception to it. Continue reading
10 years ago
OSH, Kyrgyzstan (TCA) — “The United States has spent some $115 billion in aid for Afghanistan, but 15 years after the hardline Islamist Taliban were toppled after the Sept. 11 attacks, a third of the country is out of government control and security forces are struggling,” Reuters wrote in a recent article. Continue reading
10 years ago
