esolution of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Committees and Commissions of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Uzbekistan resolves. The following committees and commissions of the Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Uzbekistan are to be set up:

The Committee on Budget, Banking and Financial Issues;

The Committee on Legislation and Judicial Issues;

The Committee on International Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations;

The Committee on Issues of Agriculture, Water Economy and Food Supplies;

The Committee on Issues of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications;

The Committee on Economic Reforms and Issues of Entrepreneurship;

The Committee on Social Issues and Employment;

The Committee on Issues of Science, Education, Culture and Sports;

The Committee on Issues of Environment and Protection of Nature;

The Committee on Press and Information;

The Committee on Issues of Defence and Security;

The Committee on Democratic Institutions, Non-State Organizations and Self-Governing Bodies;

The Commission on Regulations, Ethics and Guaranteeing Deputies' Activity;

The Commission on Problems of the Family and Women;

The Commission on Youth Affairs;

The Commission on Normative and Legal Terms.

he German company "Kurtmitterfellner GmbH" has won a tender to monitor radio frequencies in Uzbekistan. The intention of the project is to update the Uzbek Electromagnetic Compatibility Center at the Post and Telecommunications Agency, in order to improve the system of technical control over radio frequencies. Radio frequencies in Uzbekistan are distributed by the Post and Telecommunications Agency, the Ministry of Defense, and the Government Communications Service. "Kurtmitterfellner" will provide four stationary and one portable radio frequency control stations, at a total cost of $ 3.7 million.

n 30th January after a break of a year the state Uzbek television national channel screened Sergey Dorenko's analysis programme, previously closed down in Uzbekistan because of its "excessively sharp views". Observers and journalists have assessed this gesture by the authorities as evidence of the liberalization of domestic political life promised by Islam Karimov after his victory at the presidential election.

"You can expect changes in domestic policy," Karimov said in his speech to deputies at the first session of Uzbekistan's parliament of the second convocation. And when one journalist asked the president about his attitude towards the sharp statements by the foreign press, Karimov answered with a smile: "That is how they work".

Tomorrow the country's first independent private Russian-speaking newspaper, `Novyy Vek' [New Age] will be published in Tashkent. Its founder was an RIA Novosti correspondent. Meanwhile Uzbekistan's television viewers, who were surprised to see Dorenko in their screens, were even more struck when live on the Davr (Epoch) channel one chief editor called for the functions of the republic's State Committee for the Press to be made clear so that this department does not interfere in the work of the mass media. Previously such a statement would have seemed simply impossible.

etrol prices went up by an average 50 per cent in Uzbekistan on 2nd February as compared to the beginning of this year. A litre of Ai-76 petrol now costs 90 soms (0.63 dollars), which is a 50 per cent increase, and a litre of Ai-93 petrol costs 110 soms (0.77 dollars), which is a 47 per cent increase, an Interfax correspondent reports.

wo Uzbek military pilots have been killed in a midair collision. The two fighter aircraft collided during training flights at one of the Uzbek Defence Ministry air force garrisons on Tuesday [1st February], killing two out of the three men aboard the two planes, the Uzbek Defence Ministry press service has told Interfax. An ad hoc government commission is looking into the incident.

he British-Uzbek join venture "British-American Tobacco Uzbekistan" ("BAT Uzbekistan") has exported close to 1 billion cigarettes worth about $ 5 million in 1999. The cigarettes were exported to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. The company's cigarette factory, constructed in Samarkand in 1997, produces seven brands of cigarettes. "BAT Uzbekistan" also produces tobacco in Tashkent, and tobacco exports for 1999 are estimated at $ 8 million.

meeting of the agroindustrial complex of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan has been held, which was devoted to the results of 1999 and the tasks for the current year.

The meeting was chaired by the deputy prime minister, Bakhtiyor Olimjonov, the chairman of this complex. In 1999, the output of agricultural produce totalled 5.7 per cent above the planned target, industrial output was 7.9 per cent and that of consumer goods - 11.8 per cent above target, the meeting noted. The output of cotton, wheat, meat, milk and eggs also increased. A total of 96 farms out of 104 which were threatened with bankruptcy, ended the year in profit.

Measures were outlined at the meeting to speed up work on thorough preparations for the sowing season: repairing equipment, procuring seeds, stockpiling local and mineral fertilizers and desalinating land

hile inspecting the luggage of a coach passenger at the Bektemir checkpoint at the entry to the Uzbek capital, officers discovered that it contained 7.5 kilograms of heroin and were stunned by the fact that the luggage belonged to a senior official of the Tajikistan Interior Ministry. It transpired that the man taken off the Bekabad-Tashkent coach intended to carry the drugs from Tajikistan via Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan. The courier said he had been promised 1,000 dollars for the successful delivery of the contraband to destination. The customs officers said the drug is worth about 500,000 US dollars on the black market.

cting Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov on the occasion of his birthday. "Uzbekistan has, in your person, an energetic and far-sighted leader, sparing no effort for the good of his country and its people, while Russia has a reliable friend and partner. We value this high," the message runs. The press service of the acting president reported that, along with sending the message, Putin called the Uzbek president and congratulated him on the birthday in a personal conversation.

Both sides expressed conviction that top-level bilateral contacts, carried out in the recent past, and important understandings, reached during them, are a firm confirmation of the presence of good and reliable prospects for Russian-Uzbek relations. There are all necessary prerequisites to raise them to the level of efficient strategic partnership. Putin and Karimov agreed to maintain close and trustworthy cooperation in future, too.

zbekistan's customs men discovered and confiscated almost 3,000 kilogrammes of narcotics last year, Major-General Utkir Kamilov, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the republic, told Itar-Tass in an exclusive interview on Friday. He said 345 facts of illegal trafficking of narcotics were uncovered over the period. Attemps at smuggling narcotics almost doubled in scope last year as compared with those in 1998.

General Kamilov emphasised that a trend to smuggle potent narcotics such as heroin and opium across Uzbeksitan's territory has mounted of late. Rail and motor transport were mainly used for the transit of narcotics. Aircraft are also used for the purpose. Thus, literally two days ago, a passenger was removed from a Tashkent-Khabarovsk flight. As a result of a personal examination, two packages of heroin weighing three kilogrammes were confiscated from him, Kamilov said.

he European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has allocated 48m dollars to the refurbishment of Tashkent airport. An ITAR-TASS correspondent learnt this from an informed source at the national airline. This credit line has been used to make a start on renovating the taxiing lanes and the main concourse area. The contract for the operation has been won by Chinese specialists. Their professional work is well known in Africa, Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Italy. The airport is to be refurbished while aircraft continue to land and take off round the clock. Tashkent airport's normal operating schedule will not be halted for a single minute.

he Spanish firm "Aspiracon Golderer" has signed a contract worth 7.5 million U.S. dollars with the Uzbek "Uzfarmprom" farmaceutical concern to produce medical bandages and surgical gauze. Itar-Tass was told at the concern that the Spanish side would deliver technological equipment to that sum. The output capacity of this equipment will be sufficient to produce annually more than thirty million packages of banadages and eighty-six million gauze napkins. The raw material (1,500 tons of cotton yarn) will be annually supplied for this purpose by a nearby joint enterprise.

s reported to Interfax on Sunday [6th February] in the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, information has been confirmed that a passenger plane of an Afghan airline was seized by terrorists on Sunday. With reference to information from the plane's crew, a source in the Uzbek Foreign Ministry has reported that there are armed people on board the plane. After the plane landed at Tashkent airport, a condition was made: to refuel the plane, to supply some food and to let the plane fly off. Otherwise, the terrorists threatened to blow up the plane. According to the source, the Uzbek side was forced to accept the hijackers' conditions. The plane was refuelled, serviced and food was sent on board. Ten passengers were allowed to leave the plane, including four men, five women and one child, who are now at a medical establishment in Tashkent.