25 April, 2006

Politics
Information, training centre opens in Lower House of Uzbek parliament

Economics
Uzbekistan’s UzDaewooAvto car output up 7.6% on year in Jan-Mar
“Uzbekistan Airways” successfully participates in Moscow forum
Polish businesses interested in Uzbek textile industry
First ore at Uzbek Khandiza deposit by end 2007
German co to supply mining equip to Uzbek NGMK, worth $30 mln
New marketing company to sell Kandym gas
Japanese experts deliver reports on small business financing
Greek OPAP unit signs Uzbekistan IT deal

Society
French medical aid in Uzbekistan

POLITICS

INFORMATION, TRAINING CENTRE OPENS IN LOWER HOUSE OF UZBEK PARLIAMENT

An information and training centre to assist Uzbek parliamentarians in the field of parliamentary affairs opened today in the Lower House of Uzbekistan's Parliament (Oliy Majlis).

The centre is the result of a project supported by the OSCE Centre in Tashkent and the European Union's EuropeAid Programme, aimed at establishing a permanent training facility to assist Uzbekistan's Parliament and parliamentarians in building their capacities to further carry out democratic reforms in the country.

The centre will provide regular training seminars to cover such issues as initiating legislation, legislative technique, rules of drafting laws and introducing amendments to acting laws, review of draft laws submitted by other subjects of the legislative initiative, exercising parliamentary control, as well as implementing international standards into national legislation.

The centre will also train parliamentarians in using modern information and communication technology to carry out their professional tasks.

ECONOMICS

UZBEKISTAN’S UZDAEWOOAVTO CAR OUTPUT UP 7.6% ON YEAR IN JANUARY-MARCH

The car output of Uzbekistan’s UzDaewooAvto rose 7.6% on the year to 28,296 units in January-March, the country’s State Statistics Committee said Tuesday.

Of the total, the output of Nexia cars increased 15.6% on the year to 17,279 cars in January-March, the output of Matiz cars rose 4.8% to 7,877 cars, the output of Damas cars fell 20.1% to 3,055 cars and the output of Lacetti cars amounted to 85 cars, the statistics office said.

In 2005, the plant’s car output rose 44.2% on the year to 101,010 cars, exports rose 48.9% to 53,092 cars, and domestic car supplies increased 32.4% to 46,127 cars.

In 2006, the company plans to produce 142,000 cars, including 68,500 cars for export, while in 2008 UzDaewooAvto plans to produce 200,000 cars.

UzDaewooAvto, formerly an Uzbek-South Korean car manufacturing joint venture, is fully owned by the Uzbek association of car producers Uzavtoprom, or Uzavtosanoat.

In mid-October 2005 UzDaewooAvto extended its agreement with the U.S.’ General Motors on component part supplies from companies in South Korea.

“UZBEKISTAN AIRWAYS” SUCCESSFULLY PARTICIPATES IN MOSCOW FORUM

National airline company of Uzbekistan “Uzbekistan Airways” has participated in the first professional international conference and exhibition entitled "Technical maintenance and repair: prospects of Russian market." The forum was organized in Moscow by the world-famous aviation business magazine "Aviatransportnoye Obozreniye" (Air Transport Review).

243 participants, around fifty companies were registered at the forum. Among them were Boeing, Lufthansa Technik, PW, Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corporation, and other large companies of the world – leaders of technical maintenance of western technology. The stand of the Uzbekistan Airways Technics Company attracted the attention of forum guests and participants. The company provides all line and basic forms of technical maintenance services (including C-4 Check and Structure Programme) of Boeing-757, Boeing-767, A-310, RJ-85, does all types of dying works, weighs aircrafts using the latest electronic weighing system and does the balancing adjustment using the detailed Balance Manual, and replaces engines.

Today Uzbekistan Airways Technics has a permanent certificate of the European Aviation Security Agency (EASA) to provide a wide range of services on technical maintenance and repair of aircrafts and their components.

POLISH BUSINESSES INTERESTED IN UZBEK TEXTILE INDUSTRY

Uzbekyengilsanoat (Uzbek Light Industry) joint stock company hosted a meeting of business circles of Uzbekistan and Poland on 24 April.

The meeting held within the visit of Polish delegation to Uzbekistan. The delegation, led by chairman of Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PAED) Mihal Polyanski, included representative of 10 Polish firms, operating in such sectors as cotton, chemistry, textile and others.

The visit is organized by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, PAED and the Uzbek Embassy in Poland. The visit's programme envisages meetings with leadership of Uzbek Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade, Uzbekyengilsanoat, Uzbek Commodity Exchange, Uzbek Ipagi Association, State Committee on Demonopolisation, Support of Competition and Development of Entrepreneurship.

The Uzbek side will present investment and export potential of Uzbekistan's economy and the sides will consider current state and perspective of development of trade-economic cooperation between states.

Mihal Polyanski said: "We are starting our fruitful cooperation and we see great potential in this direction. The delegation includes people, who want to invest to Uzbekistan. A month later, the Uzbek delegation will arrive in Poland."

Currently, some 18 enterprises with Polish capital are operating in Uzbekistan. Within 2004-2005, six joint ventures were created in the country, which operate in textile and medical industries, wholesale and other sectors. Five Polish companies accredited in Uzbekistan.

Foreign trade turnover between two countries rose from US$37.6 million in 2004 to US$71 million in 2005.

One of the main events of the visit was cooperation exchange between business circles of Uzbekistan and Poland. The sides held negotiations on perspective cooperation and realization of joint projects, as well as other aspects of collaboration, within the exchange. Polish businesses also acquainted with products of Uzbek manufacturers.

Shavkat Radjapov, senior specialist on attraction of investments and creation of joint ventures of Uzbekyengilsanoat, said the meeting aimed at familiarize foreign guests with Uzbek products and conclude export-import agreements.

He said there are concrete proposals from Polish side and added that it is also planned to create joint ventures in Bukhara region.

FIRST ORE AT UZBEK KHANDIZA DEPOSIT BY END 2007

The production of concentrate at Uzbekistan's polymetal ore deposit Khandiza in the southern Surkhandarya region is forecast to begin at the end of 2007, the government said.

A mining and concentrating complex is being built at the deposit to process 650,000 metric tonnes of ore a year, Dow Jones reported on Monday.

The deposit has reserves of 14.4 million tonnes, with a silver content of 134 grams/tonne, zinc content of 7.24 grams/tonne, lead 3.5 grams/tonne, copper 0.86 gram/tonne and gold 0.38 gram/tonne, the report said.

The zinc and copper concentrate will be supplied to the Almalyk Combine for smelting. UK-based Marakand Minerals is creating a joint venture with Uzbekistan's Goskomgeologia to develop the deposit at the cost of US$75 million.

Marakand Minerals is owned by Oxus Gold Plc, which holds an exclusive license to develop the deposit. Oxus Gold Plc also has license to develop gold deposit in Uzbekistan.

GERMAN CO TO SUPPLY MINING EQUIP TO UZBEK NGMK, WORTH $30 MLN

Germany’s Engineering Dobersek GmbH has signed an agreement to supply gold mining equipment to Uzbekistan’s Navoi Ore Mining and Metallurgical Plant, or NGMK, worth U.S. $30 million, NGMK said Monday.

NGMK started building a gold mining complex worth about U.S. $150 million in November 2004.

The mining complex will include a gold extracting factory in Uchkuduk and mining companies at the Kokpatas and Daugistau fields.

The construction involves two stages.

The first stage, worth $80.5 million and to be completed in 2007, involves the construction of facilities for enrichment and biooxidation of gold-sulfide ore at the Kokpatas field, the company said earlier. This will enable the mining complex to reach its planned capacity of 3 million tonnes of ore processing and 10 tonnes of gold output annually in 2008.

The second stage, to be completed in 2010 and worth about $70 million, envisages an increase in the capacity of the gold mining complex.

NGMK is Uzbekistan’s largest gold producer and holds a monopoly in the country in the production and export of uranium.

Annual gold output at NGMK has been in the range of 57 tonnes and 59 tonnes over the past few years with total gold output in Uzbekistan amounting to about 80 tonnes per year.

By 2010 NGMK plans to increase its gold output by 20%.

NEW MARKETING COMPANY TO SELL KANDYM GAS

Natural gas produced by the Lukoil and Uzbekneftegaz consortium within the Kandym project in Uzbekistan will be sold by a special marketing company, Interfax reported quoting senior official of Uzbekneftegaz.

The existence of such a company is envisaged in the PSA for Kandym project, Uzbekneftegaz First Deputy Chairman Shavkhat Mazhitov said at the discussion: 'Russian and Uzbekistan: energy dialog' on Friday.

The project is progressing according to schedule, he said. Industrial production is due to begin in the third quarter of 2007, but it could start somewhat earlier, he said.

Lukoil carried out geological exploration and discovered a new field at one of its sections within this project, he said. Discussions are now being held about either raising investment in the project to US$50 million (from US$45 million) or spinning out the structure in a separate PSA.

JAPANESE EXPERTS DELIVER REPORTS ON SMALL BUSINESS FINANCING

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan in cooperation with National Life Finance Corporation (NLFC) held workshops entitled "Development and financing small and private businesses" in Karshi, Samarkand and Tashkent on 17-20 April.

National Life Finance Corporation (NLFC) contributed to development of economy for over 56 years via issue of credits and loans to small and medium businesses, which faced difficulties in receiving credits.

NLFC is a financial institution wholly owned by Japanese government. As specified by law, NLFC's goal is to provide financing to MSEs that might otherwise not qualify for assistance from private financial institutions. NLFC has carried on the activities of People's Finance Corporation, which extended loans to MSEs, and Environmental Sanitation Business Finance Corporation, which provided loans for improving hygiene standards.

Experts of NLFC Yunichi Abe and Hisao Daito delivered a report on financing of small business and credit analysis on private enterprises. Japanese experts spoke about peculiarities of system, methods of financing of small and private business, credit analysis and problems of small businesses.

The seminars were held in Kashkadarya and Samarkand regions, as well as in Tashkent city.

GREEK OPAP UNIT SIGNS UZBEKISTAN IT DEAL

Cyprus's Glory Technology, 20-percent owned by Greek betting company OPAP, has signed a deal to provide IT equipment to Uzbekistan's state lottery company, financial daily Imerisia reported on Tuesday. Glory Technology will provide terminals, computer systems and services to Olympic Lottery, a subsidiary of Uzbekistan's Olympic Committee, the paper said. Olympic Lottery offers a number of betting games similar to OPAP.

The value of the deal is seen at $4 million, Imerisia said.

Glory Technology will also provide software for scratchcards and lottery games to Olympic Lottery.

OPAP, Europe's biggest betting company by market value, could not be reached for comment. The lottery has exclusive rights to organise sports bets and lottery games in Greece until 2020.

SOCIETY

FRENCH MEDICAL AID IN UZBEKISTAN

The Embassy of France in Uzbekistan pays special attention to the areas of emergency medical aid, reproductive health, maternal and child health, endocrinology and related pathologies, such as diabetes, as well as tele-medicine, and correspondence medical education in the framework of sanitary and medical cooperation.

In summer 2006 French Embassy in Uzbekistan is planning to start a pilot project on prophylactic of the cervical cancer in Ferghana valley to protect women's health. According to the information provided by the Ministry of Healthcare of Uzbekistan, the cancer of the cervix of uterus is an urgent issue in Uzbekistan. Currently, on average, 44 women out of 100,000 have this disease.

The project to be conducted in partnership with the Women's Health Center of Tashkent and UNFPA, intends to implement modern methodology of the identification of the cervical cancer – Papanicolau test. With this aim in mind, the Women's Health Center of Tashkent will train twelve methodologists for Ferghana valley (Ferghana, Andijan, Namangan). They, in turn, will train the competent doctors of different levels of the healthcare system practicing in oncological health centers, district clinics, maternity hospitals, and rural doctors' offices. This strategy should help create a network of doctors, capable of conducting Papanikolau tests. Along with this initiative, the project involves acts on distribution of preventive information. Also, a French specialists is to come to Uzbekistan to organize the disease detection programme.

Moreover, Medecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) French organisation, in cooperation with the French Embassy in Uzbekistan, is planning to conduct a programme in the field of maternity health. This programme will cover Jizzakh region and will particularly touch emergency obstetrical cases – a critical problem for Uzbekistan. The programme envisions the organisation of several practical courses on obstetrics, anesthesia, neopathology, as well as the equipment of the main structures for maternity healthcare in the districts of Bakhmal and Zamin.