TASHKENT (TCA) — Trade between Uzbekistan and Germany in 2015 decreased by 18.2 percent, from 481 million euro in 2014 down to 380 million euro, German Ambassador to Uzbekistan Neithart Hoefer-Wissing told a news conference on January 26, Novosti Uzbekistana news agency reported.
BISHKEK (TCA) — In its 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on January 27, Transparency International ranked 168 countries based on perceived levels of public-sector corruption. The most corrupt countries in Central Asia, according to the index, were Afghanistan (ranked 166th), Turkmenistan (156th), and Uzbekistan (153rd).
BISHKEK (TCA) — The European Commission has approved the release of EUR 15 million as part of the EU’s Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programme for the Kyrgyz Republic, the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic said on January 27.
Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon’s elder daughter Ozoda Rakhmon
DUSHANBE (TCA) — Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon has appointed his elder daughter, Ozoda Rakhmon, as head of the presidential administration. The appointment was announced on January 27, the president’s website said.
BISHKEK (TCA) — The World Bank has lowered its 2016 forecast for crude oil prices to $37 per barrel in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook report from $51 per barrel in its October projections. Low oil prices hit oil-producing countries in Central Asia, mainly Kazakhstan, and Russia.
BISHKEK (TCA) — The year 2016 will not be less difficult than last year as external risks continue to persist, Kyrgyzstan’s Economy Minister Arzybek Kojoshev told a news conference on the country’s results in 2015 and tasks for 2016, the press service of the Economy Ministry said.
