s you know, for a long time there has been a rumour that the [South] Korean company Daewoo Motors has allegedly gone bankrupt and is selling off all its plants. Korea's Daewoo Motors certainly did take big credits from major world banks. The purpose was to launch [car] plants in Russia, Ukraine and other countries. This happened, and vast resources were spent to that end. But the funds did not yield the expected results in many countries. About 2bn dollars were spent on a car plant in Russia alone, while the banks which allocated the credits have started demanding that the funds should repaid. As a result, Daewoo is being forced to sell off its enterprises. So far Ford of Germany and General Motors have been the main buyers.

The UzDaewooavto enterprise [joint venture] in Uzbekistan is an exception. The Uzbek side has now opened a representative office in Korea. The aim is to buy car components not through middlemen, but directly from the producers. (Uzbek TV)

n line with a trilateral agreement signed between China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in Tashkent, an international route between Tashkent, Andijan (eastern Uzbek town), Osh (southern Kyrgyz town), Irkeshtam (on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border) and Kashi (Kashgar) (town in western China) will be opened in August 2000 for full-scale freight and passenger traffic.

The Kyrgyz-Uzbek Asiya-ugol servis (Asia coal service) trade house, which has gathered practical experience in this sphere by now, is becoming one of the organizers of the movement of traffic in this direction.

The main aim of this project is to get Kyrgyz and Uzbek goods to the sea, which undoubtedly will allow exports to be doubled. According to the trade house's managing director, N. Davidov, a cargo terminal will be built in Osh soon, which will provide jobs for hundreds of residents of this town. Motorcades will be organized of private vehicles as well as passenger services in the future.

ussian REN TV reported about the annual list of the world's most expensive cities. The first two positions are occupied by Japanese cities, Tokyo and Osaka. The so-called Star of the Orient, Tashkent, has displaced Moscow as the most expensive city in the former USSR, rising to fourth overall. Moscow, on the other hand, descended from last year's fifth place to 39th...5-Oslo, 6-London, 8-Taipei, 9-Zurich, 11-New-York, 12-Tel-Aviv, 13-Paris, 14-Seoul, 15-Beijing, 16-Singapore, 18-Chicago, 23-Buenos Aires, 24-San-Fransisco, 33-Washington, 35-Munich, 36-Cairo, 40-Mexico, 54-Sidney, 61-Dubai, 63-Dublin, Bangkok-104, Manila-121, Karachi-122.

zbekistan Prime Minister Utkir Sultanov on July 18 assured the visiting Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Abdus Samad Azad, of his country's necessary assistance to boost economic cooperation between the two countries, reports BSS.

"Uzbekistan Prime Minister assured us of all possible assistance for increasing economic cooperation to strengthening the existing brotherly relations between our two countries," Bangladesh embassy sources said here.

Azad arrived here on July 16 on a five-day visit and held official talks with his counterpart Abdul Aziz Kamilov here a day before. Azad requested Uzbekistan Prime Minister to extend special facilities to Bangladeshi entrepreneurs for promotion of trade and commerce and asked for concessional custom duties to facilitate increased export of Bangladeshi commodities to Uzbekistan.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister, during his meeting with Sultanov at the latter's office, briefed him on the achievements of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, particularly special programme for the old and Ashrayan project for the shelterless people. Later, Azad held talks with Uzbek Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Iliyor Ganiev at his office and explained the liberal policy followed by Bangladesh and facilities extended to those who want to invest in Bangladesh.

Azad requested Ganiev to allow Bangladeshi businessmen to buy cotton directly from Uzbekistan instead of from Liverpool auction market. This, Azad told his host, was needed to meet the growing demand of cotton by Bangladeshi textile mills and also to meet the requirement of readymade garment factories. Bangladesh and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on reciprocal promotion and protection of investment between the two countries.

The agreement was signed Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad and Uzbekistan Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Iliyor Ganiev on behalf of their respective governments. After the signing the agreement, Azad urged Uzbek Minister to import more tea, jute and jute goods, medicines, leather products and readymade garments from Bangladesh.

zbek President Islam Karimov received the World Health Organization's regional director for Europe, Dr Marc Danzon on 18 July. Uzbekistan was granted WHO membership in 1992 and Uzbekistan began to closely cooperate with the organization in 1993, when priority fields of partnership were outlined.

Welcoming Marc Danzon to the country, President Islam Karimov voiced confidence that the current visit would serve the efficient development of bilateral relations. Our head of state pointed out that partnership with WHO was of great importance for Uzbekistan, as reforms in the health care sector, which include a wide range of measures, have been given state importance. Currently, 10 joint programmes are being carried out. The WHO’s regional European bureau intends to allocate Uzbekistan 10m dollars as part of providing support in the implementation of programmes for protecting mothers and children, and preventing various infectious diseases.

The talks also underlined the need to make efficient use of bilateral cooperation. Uzbekistan has always been a strategically important nation for WHO, Marc Danzon said. He highly rated the initiative displayed by the Uzbek leadership to raise Uzbek medicine to world standards. The talks also considered other issues of mutual interest.

ajik President Emomali Rahmonov had a telephone conversation with Uzbek President Islam Karimov July 20. During the conversation they discussed the implementation of agreements signed between the two countries.

During the conversation they reached an agreement on holding regular meetings between elders, the intellegentsia and representatives of law-enforcement bodies of frontier and bordering areas of the two countries. Moreover, they touched upon the issue of the implementation of a project on the construction of the Panjakent-Samarkand railway. During the conversation, it was also noted that an air route would be opened between the cities of the two countries in August this year. Moreover, they expressed their views on the need to further develop comprehensive cooperation, including in the economic andecessary to further develop them.

ecently the heads of the OSCE delegations in Vienna representing 17 OSCE member countries visited Uzbekistan. The aim of the visit was to familiarize themselves with the work of OSCE offices at the localities and obtain more detailed information about the situation in Uzbekistan.

The heads of the delegations deemed positive the fact that an OSCE bureau for relations with Central Asian countries was operating in Uzbekistan, which is the OSCE's partner, and rated highly the good working relations with the head of the bureau, envoy [Gancho] Ganchev.

The heads of the OSCE delegations had a meeting with [Uzbek] Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov. The delegation visited Samarkand, met the governor of Samarkand Region, E.[Erkin] Roziyev, and held a meeting with representatives of nongovernmental organizations and media agencies.

The OSCE completely shared the anxiety, expressed by [Uzbek] President Karimov and the political leadership of Uzbekistan concerning threats to security in the region. It is proposed to hold a conference to discuss an integrated approach towards fighting drugs, organized crime and terrorism in Tashkent from 19th to 20th October 2000. The OSCE welcomes Uzbekistan's readiness to host this important conference in Tashkent.

ehind all the beautiful words to the effect that Uzbekistan is "making active efforts" to integrate into the worldwide information system lies the fact that the Uzbek government is "monitoring" Internet users in the country by installing "special filters" on the lines , journalist Konstantin Foin said in an article published in the Kazakh newspaper 'Novoye Pokoleniye' on 14th July. Foin said that the essence of the Internet lay in its self-regulation, based on users' "self-awareness", and any regulation of the Internet by the authorities meant that either users do not have that self-awareness or that this runs counter to the authorities' ideas. Any attempt by the government to control the Internet is a "brazen" violation of users' rights, the constitution and the law, the author said. The following are excerpts from the article:

As the Uzbek media say: "Uzbekistan is making active efforts to integrate into the world information system, and people here are well aware of the significance of the world computer net, its potential and prospects for the country's development." And they are certainly well aware of that. Consequently, last year, the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers passed a resolution setting up a national data transmission network and regulating access to the world information networks. The national network is being formed from the Uzbek post and telecommunications agency's enterprise for exploiting the state data transmission network (UzPAK), as well as the interdepartmental computer network (UzNET) under the republic's Cabinet of Ministers. The whole point of this action is that UzPAK provides centralized access to the international computer networks. All data transmission network operators in Uzbekistan have the right to access the international network exclusively through the national data transmission networks. The main task of the national provider, UzPAK, is to ensure the functioning of the national data transmission network with the aim of meeting the information needs of citizens and organizations and protecting information resources. I hope the reader managed to digest this well-worded passage.

However, one thing is clear behind all these beautiful and correct words: Internet users are being monitored. This is carried out very simply by installing special filters on lines which react to certain key words. Any information being transmitted or received that contains them is simply blocked and does not reach its destination or return to the sender.

Today the Internet is the most popular form of self-expression. And its strength lies in its very disorderliness. The essence of the Internet lies in its self-regulation, based on the users' self-awareness. Any regulation of the Internet by the powers that be could be interpreted as confirming that either users do not have that self-awareness or that this runs counter to the authorities' ideas.

Internet providers in Uzbekistan know about blocking filters, but prefer not to talk about them to journalists. They do, however, note that centralization has appreciably slowed the speed of information exchange and that receiving video material has become difficult. On the other hand, what the monitors say they do and what they actually do may be far from identical, and the expensive filters have not yet been installed everywhere.

Intercepting letters is work worthy only of a tsarist censorship. There is always an answer to any measures that can be taken, and the programmers realized earlier that electronic mail might reach the wrong addressee through submission to the authorities' will and so worked out long ago a system for coding messages that cannot then be read without the proper key. Those who can afford special equipment can link up to the Internet, bypassing all the official providers. Only terrorist novices may fall prey to the watchdogs, whereas more up-to-date methods and clever minds are needed against the experienced ones, but these methods and minds seem to be in short supply. This gives rise to such primitive devices as filters, since it is much easier to prohibit and close down than to create something new yourself. These crude methods only confirm that the authorities are afraid of joining in the open ideological battle against their opponents, even though they [the authorities] are not devoid of wit. After all, the merest rumour about filters will force the opposition to think about the advisability of using the Internet.

The World Wide Web is an open system for exchanging information, and most important of all, for exchanging one's own opinions. Internet users know that it contains not only signed material, but also anonymous articles, the authors of which are impossible to trace. But then they can be attributed to anybody. Could that not be an excuse for the repression needed by the authorities?

Any attempts by a state to control the Internet, however well meant, have other implications and violate the constitution and the law, and constitute a brazen violation of the rights of law-abiding network users. But, as usual, such measures are served up in a beautiful wrapping, so that many users do not even notice the bitter filling in them.

ajor foreign experts are being involved in developing modern books for general education in Uzbekistan's schools. A tender for the best investor to develop school books has yielded the expected results. The British Council has won the tender organized by the Education Ministry of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The above prestigious organization, by allocating more than 20m-dollar interest free credit for the implementation of a joint Uzbek-British cooperation project has displayed great generosity. The British Council has brought 19 leading experts to Uzbekistan to develop school books. People involved in developing the new books will continue the project which has been worked out to the end of 2000.

he Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan has issued a resolution setting up monitoring of the main indicators in the operation of the banking system. This aims to step up economic reforms in the banking sector and raise the level of capitalization in commercial banks.

The Central Bank has drawn up and endorsed standard-setting documents establishing a compulsory system of economic indicators for each bank, in accordance with international standards and priority rating principles. The list of major indicators to be monitored includes items such as a bank's capital, active operations, funds attracted and liabilities. When evaluating ratings, the Akhbor Reyting [Rating] company and other agencies are instructed to take account of how these change.

The Central Bank and the ministries of finance and of macroeconomics and statistics have been set the task of carrying out monthly analyses of the major indicators in the operation of every bank and of the system as a whole and of taking measures to improve these.

The commercial banks will take the necessary measures to raise the standard of their operations, paying particular attention to attracting funds from the population, ensuring a qualitative growth in assets, increasing credit investments in the real sector of the economy, including in foreign currency, and also expanding the resource base for banks.

he minister of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Abdus Samad Azad, was in Uzbekistan this week. The Bangladeshi high-ranking guest met Uzbek Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Elyor Ghaniyev. During the talks the sides discussed the current state and future of trade and economic relations between the two countries, and attracting investments. In order to develop economic ties, the two nations as a first step need to promote their business ties and create favourable conditions for business.

Despite being an agricultural country, Bangladesh rates as one of the world's leading nations in textiles. Bangladeshi businessmen are showing great interest in our country. Partnership between the two countries have been developing since the signing of an accord on trade and economic cooperation in 1994.

During the meeting, held at the Uzbek Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, cooperation in agriculture, aircraft building, car and tractor building were also considered. At the end of the talks, Uzbek Foreign Economic Relations Minister Elyor Ghaniyev, and Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad signed an accord on protecting and providing incentives for investment on a mutual basis. This will in turn serve the further development of relations between the two states, in particular, the businessmen. The same day, the Bangladeshi foreign minister visited the Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Uzbekistan, met [its head] Mufti Abdurashid Bahromov, and toured the Tilla Shaykh Mosque.

special commission led by the secretary of the Security Council of Tajikistan, Amirqul Azimov, was in Uzbekistan from 10th to 13th July. This was the first official visit by the commission after the signing of an agreement on the delimitation of the state frontier between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Dushanbe in May.

The Asia-Plus news agency learned from a source in the Security Council of Tajikistan on 17th July that during the work of the joint Tajik-Uzbek commission a decision was taken that the border between the two states would be determined within the framework of decisions of the Supreme Councils of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic and Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic adopted in 1961.

The sides stated that it would take at least half year to carry out the technical work. The leadership of Uzbekistan has taken all measures to support the commission's work. Both legal issues of its work and its [the commission's] technical maintenance were solved. According to the source's data, during the work of the commission, the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan made a decision to abolish customs duties for the movement of Tajikistan's vehicles throughout the territory of Uzbekistan. The next meeting of the special commission of the two countries will be held in Dushanbe in late September.

he International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) announced that 26 year-old Nikolay Gladkiy received his "Trainer of Trainers" certificate this week, becoming the first deaf Internet trainer in Uzbekistan and possibly all of Central Asia.

Mr. Gladkiy completed his certification through the Internet Access and Training Program (IATP), which is administered by IREX, a private Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting advanced field research and professional training programs between the United States and the countries of Eurasia and Central and Eastern Europe. Funding for IATP is provided by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State.

In the coming months, IATP and Mr. Gladkiy are planning an ambitious training schedule. IATP will be working with the deaf boarding school where Mr. Gladkiy studied-a venue that will allow over 100 deaf students to learn how to use the Internet. IATP is in the process of providing e-mail access to several schools and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Uzbekistan with deaf and hard of hearing constituents. Discussions are also underway to allow Mr. Gladkiy to increase the impact of his IATP training program by expanding regionally to neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In the future, Mr. Gladkiy is currently seeking funding to attend the English Language Institute at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

Since 1995 IATP has fostered continued information sharing, network building, communication, and collaboration among alumni of US academic and professional exchange programs and other audiences with their US counterparts and each other. IREX currently administers IATP in 10 countries of Eurasia including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. To date IATP has trained over 3,500 people in Uzbekistan alone, with over 300 people completing the "Trainer of Trainers" program.

azakhstan's national telecommunications operator Kazakhtelecom terminated input from Uzbekistan last Monday, the company's press service told Interfax on Tuesday.

Part of the transit routes and channels crossing Kazakhstan for the benefit of Uzbekistan was also disconnected, the press service said. Uzbek telecommunications operator and joint stock company Khalkaro- Telecom's debt to Kazakhtelecom is the reason for the measure, the press service said. The debt, totaling $4.38 million on July 1, had piled up after many years of unpaid telecommunications' bills.

zbek Prime Minister Utkir Sultanov has received Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdussamad Ozod, who is now paying an official visit to Uzbekistan.

The ministers talked about the current situation and prospects for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries at the meeting, the prime minister's press service told Interfax on Monday. The sides noted the necessity of strengthening relations further, including relations between business circles in the two countries.

The Bangladesh government knows Uzbekistan as an authoritative and strong partner in Central Asia, Ozod said. Official Dhaka has also declared its support for the actions and initiatives of Uzbekistan's government in the sphere of regional security, combating international terrorism and regional extremism. Ozod met with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov in Tashkent.

resident Islam Karimov has signed a decree to overcome the water supply difficulties that have affected a number of regions of Karakalpakiya (a republic within Uzbekistan) and Khoresme region. A governmental committee has been set up in response to the emergency situation caused by a low water level in the lower reaches of the Amudarya River.

First Deputy Prime Minister of the republic Bakhtiyar Khamidov is heading the committee. The lower reaches of the Amudarya are experiencing a water shortage four times graver than last year's. As a result, the amount of rice sown in Karakalpakstan this year is twice less than last year.

aw cotton imports into Germany in the first three month of 2000 fell to 29,335 tonnes from 36,763 tonnes in the same period of 1999, the Bremen Cotton Exchange said on Monday. In the first quarter of 2000 Uzbekistan remained Germany's main cotton supplier, accounting for 40 percent of imports.

"In the cotton textile field the industrial countries are confronted with a growing unfavourable balance of trade," the exchange said in its fortnightly report.

"In view of expanded supplies of cotton textiles at low prices particularly from Asia, the competitiveness will continue to be challenged," it said.

In 1999, German cotton imports fell by 20.7 percent year-on-year in volume terms to 117,334 tonnes and decreased 34.5 percent in value to 269.276 million German marks ($129 million). Following are cotton import figures in tonnes from selected countries, as supplied by the Bremen exchange. The figures only include countries which shipped more than 1,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2000.

GERMANY Q1 RAW COTTON IMPORTS

ORIGIN Q1 2000 Q1 1999 Q1 1998

Uzbekistan 11,893.4 15,942.7 14,417.7

Chad 2,694.2 3,187.7 4,494.7

USA 1,844.8 1,216.4 1,658.0

Greece 1,638.2 2,140.5 3,475.0

Zimbabwe 1,574.2 1,096.8 2,315.5

Israel 1,116.4 453.2 519.7

Sudan 1,112.8 3,965.9 2,696.9

Turkmenistan 1,051.0 330.4 33.4

Tadjikistan 1,003.7 196.9 45.0

usiness news

INFLATION SLOWS IN MAJORITY OF CIS MEMBER STATES

Consumer prices went up 14.7% in Tadjikistan in the first five months of 2000, 14.4% in Ukraine, 7.5% in Moldova, 6.8% in Russia and 6.3% in Kyrgyzstan. Belarus posted the highest inflation among CIS countries in the period with inflation of 45.0%, the CIS Interstate Statistics Committee reported. Inflation was relatively low in Kazakhstan (3.8%), Azerbaijan (1.4%) and Armenia (0.5%). Consumer prices fell 0.3% in Georgia. Despite the inflation observed in most CIS coun-tries, on the whole prices are going up at a slower pace. Prices rose 0.1% on average per month in Arme-nia, compared to 0.8% in the same period of 1999; 7.7% in Belarus, compared with 11.7%; 0.7% in Ka-zakhstan (1.3%); 1.2% in Kyrgyzstan (4.2%), 1.5% in Moldova (2.7%) and 1.3% in Russia (4.1%).

UZBEK GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE STATE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

The government of Uzbekistan is taking steps to improve management of state property. According to the government press service, the government has issued a ruling on improving the man-agement of state property. The aim of the ruling is deepening privatization processes, raising efficiency of state asset management and shares in companies, and directed help for privatized companies. The ruling calls for authorized state representatives at leading companies appointed by the prime minister's special commission as proposed by the State Property Commission. The government will soon consider the efficacy of retaining a state stake of 25% or more in companies and opportunities for selling them on the stock market, in-cluding to foreign investors.

UZBEKISTAN TO START UP $1 BLN GAS CHEMICAL PLANT BY YEAR-END

Uzbekistan plans to complete construction of the Shurtan gas chemical complex (Kashkadarinsky region) in December, the head of construction, Alisher Sulta-nov, told Interfax. The project, which will cost over $1 billion, is be-ing sponsored by state-owned Uzbekneftegaz. Financing is being provided by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC, over 40 billion yen), the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (about $200 mil-lion) German commercial bank loans insured by Her-mes (about DM 70 million), a credit from the National Bank of Uzbekistan and from internal Uzbekneftegaz funds. The plant is currently undergoing a phased startup and final installation work, specifically the gas purifying plant and the ethylene unit with capacity to produce 125,000 tonnes a year as well as byproducts - 137,000 tonnes of liquefied gas (propane and butane fractions) and 130,000 tonnes of volatile condensate. The $600 million turnkey portion of the complex is being built by ABB (ABB Lummus Global and ABB Soimi), and three Japanese firms: Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Toyo Engineering and Nissho Iwai Corporation. The other $400 million in general construction work is being performed by local companies. Uzbekistan consumes about 60,000 tonnes of polyethylene a year. Output will be delivered to the do-mestic market and exported, primarily to other Central Asian nations.

UZBEKISTAN TO SELL 51% OF UZBEKTELECOM TO FOREIGN INVESTORS

The State Property Commission of Uzbekistan and the Uzbek Post and Communications Agency will to of-fer 51% of Uzbektelecom by tender to foreign investors by April 1, 2000. A government ruling on organization of the busi-ness of Uzbektelecom says the government will retain a 30% stake and a further 19% will be offered to the work force and domestic investors. The document calls for a financial consultant to be appointed within a month. The decision to form Uzbektelecom from Khal-karo Telecom (long-distance and international) and Makhali Telecom (local) , divisions of the Post and Communications Agency, was taken at the end of June. By the middle of 2001, a strategic investor for privatiz-ing Uzbekistan's telecoms is to be decided. The strategic investors is to be selected with the as-sistance of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). In 1998, the IBRD provided Uzbekistan with a loan of $28 million for institutional development. A part of the funds will be used for the telecoms privatization program. Earlier attempts to attract foreign investors into Uzbekistan's telecoms sector failed. In 1998, the Udinet JV between Set (Italy), Siemens (Germany), and Khalkaro Telecom fell apart. An attempt to sell a stake in Tashkent Telephone Network also failed.

UZBEKISTAN AND ISRAEL TO SET UP ELECTRIC METER JV

Israel's MRK Family, Nisko and Balshin are to set up an electronic electricity meter JV with Uzbekistan's Uzeltekhprom. Uzeltekhprom foreign relations chief Boris Zhukov said the decision to set up the JV, which has yet to be named, is linked to the need to optimize electricity pay-ments. The new meters will allow electricity to be paid for using cards. He said the meters are to be made at the facilities of the association's Relay and Automatics plant in Tash-kent. The JV will has a capacity of around 100,000 me-ters a year. The JV is to have authorized capital of $2 million with the Israeli side holding $2 million and the Uzbek side 30%. The Israeli companies will pay in their share in the form of cash, production and measuring equip-ment. Uzeltekhprom will provide facilities and working capital. Zhukov said a feasibility study is being completed. Production is expected to begin in 2001.

INPRO TO START PRESIDENT HOTEL SAMARKAND IN AUGUST

Inpro (Germany) will begin construction of the four-star President Hotel in Samarkand in August. The hotel will have 180 rooms and cost around $24 million. A source at Uzbektourism said construction will take up to two years. Financing for the project will come from Ger-many's Hypo Wereins Bank under guarantee of the gov-ernment of Uzbekistan and insurance from Hermes. The $28.05 million loan is for 9.5 years at 8.5% with a grace period of two years. The source said that in 1999, Uzbektourism and Inpro set up Uzolmonhotels for joint construction and refurbishing of hotels. The JV has authorized capital of $11.65 million, Inpro owns 42.49%, the Uzbek side - 57.51%. The Uzbektourism representative said Inpro will simultaneously refurbish Khorezm hotel (Urgench), a part of its hotel chain. The cost of the work is estimated at $9 million.

zbekistan plans to complete the construction of the Shurtan gas chemical plant in Kashkadarinsk region in December, Alisher Sultanov the project manager announced.

The $1 billion construction is sponsored by state-owned Uzbekneftegaz. Financing is provided by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC, over 40 billion yen), the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (about $200 million), German commercial bank loans insured by Hermes (about DM 70 million), a credit from the National Bank of Uzbekistan and from internal Uzbekneftegaz funds.

The plant is currently undergoing a phased startup and final installation work. The $600 million turnkey portion of the complex is built by ABB (ABB Lummus Global and ABB Soimi), and three Japanese firms: Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Toyo Engineering and Nissho Iwai Corporation. The remaining $400 million general construction work is performed by local companies.

oreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad is due to leave Dhaka on Sunday for a trip to Uzbekistan, the first visit by a Bangladeshi leader to the Central Asian country since it gained independence. The officials BSS news agency here Saturday said trade and other bilateral as well as international issues would be on the agenda during Azad's five-day visit.

he Uzbek security forces have arrested one of the accomplices of Jordanian-born Chechen warlord Khattab on the Tajik border. According to preliminary findings, Shukhrat Balikov was supposed to cross into Afghanistan and contact the leader of the so-called Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Takhir Yuldashev, in order to get a large sum of money. Balikov was then ordered to deliver the money to Khattab in Chechnya for his fighters.

The emissary, Shukhrat Balikov, said 1,500 rebels were undergoing training in Khattab's camps. Forty of them are from Uzbekistan. They call themselves warriors of Islam and consider it an honour to contribute to the overthrowing of the constitutional system in Uzbekistan and creation of an Islamic state on its territory.

zbekistan and other Central Asian Republics have sought India's help in tackling the problems of fundamentalism and religious extremism and also in eradication of drug and narcotic trafficking. Top specialists of the Institute of Strategic and Regional Studies of Uzbekistan, which functions directly under President Islam Karimov told reporters.

"India is quite experienced in handling fundamentalism and religious extremism, and since we are faced with almost identical problems, we will be glad to have the benefit of this knowledge".

The Institute is considered a think tank of President Karimov and advises him on matters like regional and national security, international relations and has established contacts with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Muhamed M Yukbov, Head of the Department of Regional Studies and his two colleagues, Abdulla Zia Abdullaev, strategic expert and Isadjanov, Secretary Scientific Board, suggested that India, Uzbekistan and other countries of the region should co-operate and evolve a mechanism to fight fundamentalism and religious extremism.

Besides bilateral co-operation and coordination among the agencies fighting fundamentalists, international organisations like the United Nations should exchange information regarding activities of extremist outfits, particularly in Afghanistan, they said. The specialists said only a few days back President Karimov had suggested that an anti-terrorist center should be set up under the auspices of the UN and added that India should support this proposal.

he Netherlands battled through scorching heat to seal a 4-1 win over Uzbekistan in their Davis Cup world group qualifier on Sunday. The Dutch had taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead after Saturday's doubles.

Paul Haarhuis, who replaced former Wimbledon champion and Dutch number one Richard Krajicek, dispatched Vadim Kutsenko 6-1 6-4 in just over one hour to give his team a 4-0 edge.

Haarhuis said: "The Uzbeki players have a good potential. They simply should play a lot and acquire experience of playing in big tournaments."

Uzbek Oleg Ogorodov beat Sjeng Schalken 6-4 6-3 in the final rubber to avoid a clean sweep.

"Schalken played quite decently, making mainly technical mistakes," Ogorodov said after the match. "There is no doubt that the level of tennis in Asia is lower than in Europe," he said. "That is why we lost in the team match."

"We were worried about the extreme heat as much as our opponents and we're just glad it's over," said Dutch coach Michiel Schappers.

The temperatures in the Uzbek capital reached 39 degrees celsius in the first two days but it was a bit cooler on Sunday. With the win, the Netherlands advances to the 2001 Davis Cup World Group, made up of the top 16 teams in world tennis.

he Uzbek Red Crescent Society and the Red Cross Society of Belgium have signed a cooperation agreement. This envisages rendering humanitarian aid to the population of the [Uzbek constituent] Republic of Karakalpakistan, which is in an ecological disaster zone. This will be long-term cooperation which provides for drawing up a number of joint projects for specific districts of the Aral Sea region. It should be noted that Uzbek Red Crescent Society in Karakalpakistan has implemented several major projects with Red Cross organizations of Germany, the USA and Switzerland.

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esolution of the Cabinet of Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan on additional measures for arranging the import of certain types of goods into the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan by private individuals. With the aim of regulating the import of certain types of socially-significant consumer goods into the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan by private individuals, the Cabinet of Ministers resolves:

1. It is to be established that when private individuals ("shuttle traders") import flour, vegetable oil and animal fat into the territory of the republic for commercial purposes, the current rates of duty, 50 per cent of their customs value, will be levied and the established ceilings on tax-free imports applied.

2. The State Taxation Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan is to ensure strict observance of the set procedure for levying customs duties and levies from private individuals engaged in commercial activity.

zbekistan's cotton growers are alarmed at the catastrophic situation that has been brought about by a water shortage, so ruinous for the "white gold". Specialists believe that a decline in the yield of this industrial crop will strike a painful blow at the republic's economy.

Cotton fibre remains one of Uzbekistan's primary export commodities. Today a hectare of land in Uzbekistan yields half as much raw cotton as, for example, a hectare of Israeli land. Over the eight years of independence, the cotton growers of Uzbekistan have not once been able to fulfil the state's order. Nor was last year an exception although, admittedly, the fibre quality was considerably better than usual.

This year, cotton growers are afraid not only of failing to gather in the planned 4m tonnes of raw cotton, but also of losing a significant portion of the harvest. And there are solid grounds for these fears. The Syrdarya is capable of yielding only 80 per cent of the necessary quantity of water this year, and the Amudarya even less - 40-50 per cent. Fifty-three reservoirs in Uzbekistan have not collected another 2.5bn cubic kilometres of water this year. A snow-poor winter did not allow glaciers, the Syrdarya's and Amudarya's primary sources, to replenish the water resources.

The last time such a situation was observed in Uzbekistan was in 1951. At that time it is true the demand for water was not as significant; after all, the area of irrigated lands was far smaller.

Meanwhile, the current water shortage has not come as a surprise - hydrologists had given timely warning of it. Back on 3rd February, a corresponding decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan came out, of which all farms were advised, so that they could think through what measures to take for the use of internal resources. But the internal resources have turned out to be insufficient. Many drainage areas have been simply empty.

"Today the most difficult situation is in Karakalpak," says Khodzhimurat Gapparov, chief of the Uzbekistan Agriculture Ministry Water Resources Administration. "The Region has been provided with only one-third the necessary amount of water. The situation is also difficult in Khorezm, Bukhara, and Kashkadarya Regions." Also important is what is being done directly on the farms, given the reduction of the time-frame for watering. So that the ground does not crack, after watering it is treated ground with a cultivator two or three times and covered it with a moisture sheet so there will be enough until the next watering.

Cotton is a capricious crop. And how the water shortage will affect its yield will become known only in the fall, when the "white" harvest campaign is completed. (Russian newspaper "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", July 10)