TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — Small private companies in Uzbekistan will benefit from better access to finance thanks to an €18 million loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Ipoteka Bank, the country’s fourth-largest lender by total assets, the EBRD said on December 13.
TCA
BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s former President Almazbek Atambayev has been charged with killing a security officer during a two-day standoff between security forces and supporters of the former head of state in August, RFE/RL reports.
Interior Minister Kashkar Junushaliev said on December 13 that Atambayev had been formally informed that he is suspected of lethally shooting Colonel Usenbek Niyazbekov, a father of six, during the raid on Atambayev’s compound in the village of Koi-Tash near Bishkek on August 7.
According to Junushaliev, ballistic tests revealed that Niyazbekov was shot in the chest by a sniper rifle registered to Atambayev.
Atambayev himself told journalists on August 8 that he was the only one in the compound who had guns and that he was the only one who shot firearms during clashes between riot police and Atambayev’s supporters.
Security officials were sent to Atambayev’s compound after he refused to obey three subpoenas calling him to the Interior Ministry for questioning in an investigation over his alleged involvement in the illegal release of a jailed organized-crime boss in 2013.
Atambayev was arrested on August 8 after he surrendered to police following a violent two-day resistance.
He was charged with using violence against representatives of the state, organizing mass unrest, masterminding a murder attempt, hostage taking, and corruption.
The resistance by the former president and his supporters resulted in the death of the 47-year-old Niyazbekov and injuries to more than 170 others, including 79 law enforcement officers.
In other news, ex-deputy of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Ravshan Jeenbekov was detained in Bishkek late on December 12, 24.kg news agency reported with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The ministry said that the former parliament deputy is suspected of taking hostages as well as organizing mass riots in Koi-Tash village during the detention of former President Atambayev in August.
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BISHKEK (TCA) — Bishkek Business Club is organizing the New Year’s Ethno Festival of Craft and Organic Products in the frame of the NICE-TAK project (Networking Intermediaries and Competitive Enterprises in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan), funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan reported.
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DUSHANBE (TCA) — A two-day expert meeting on how to address the digital dimensions of violent extremism in Central Asia opened on December 12 in Dushanbe for some 70 experts from all the Central Asian states and Afghanistan. The participants include representatives of law enforcement agencies, relevant state institutions, the ICT industry, civil society, youth organizations, academia, and the media.
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BISHKEK (TCA) — A court in Bishkek has ruled to freeze the bank accounts of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, locally known as Azattyk, its correspondent, and the Kyrgyz news site Kloop following their joint investigation about possible widespread corruption in the country’s customs service and massive outflows of cash, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported.
TCA
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Small enterprises and women-led businesses in Kazakhstan are set to benefit from a US $40 million loan package provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Bank CenterCredit (BCC), a leading local lender, the EBRD said on December 12.
