he Asian Development Bank has allocated for the Ozbekiston Temir Yollari [Uzbek railways] state joint-stock company a credit worth 70m dollars for the purchase of new equipment. New railway equipment from the Austrian Plasser and Theurer company has been recently delivered to the road-maintenance workshop of the Bukhara-1 station. The equipment is intended for cleaning and repairing railways. Specialists from Bukhara have been trained to operate the new equipment on courses in Austria and Tashkent.

hina and Uzbekistan established their first joint venture, the Uzbek Market Co, Ltd, here today in an effort to strengthen the two countries' economic links. The Shanghai-based new joint venture is a result of joint efforts from six Uzbekistan companies, including an exchange centre for goods and material, an auto industry corporation and a chemical industry corporation, and Chinese companies.

Shenli Group based in central China's Henan Province and the Chinatex Non-Cotton Yarns and Fabrics Import and Export Corporation are the Chinese shareholders of the joint venture. Akrom Muhidov, chief of the Uzbek Foreign Economic Coordination Department, said the founding of the joint venture will help expand trade between China and Uzbekistan, and rejuvenate "the glorious 'Silk Road'" that linked the two countries for centuries.

"It is a historical event, and will inject new vigour to the development of bilateral relations," said Muhidov.

He said Uzbekistan is willing to further expand cooperation with China in diverse sectors including farm produce processing, chemical industry, electronics, mechanics, food processing, light industry, machine building, aviation, telecommunications and tourism.

Chinese statistics show that Sino-Uzbek trade volume reached 24.4m US dollars during the first half of this year, up 11.3 per cent over the same period last year. A fair displaying Uzbek commodities also opened on August 4.

workshop has been launched at the biggest chemical enterprise of the town of Navoi - the Navoiazot [Navoi nitrogen] production corporation - to produce liquid methanol. It is used in the production of nitron [polyacryl nitrile fibre] and formalin, as well as in the furniture and gas industries. The new workshop will produce 35,000 tonnes of methanol annually fully meeting the country's need for it.

one of the 13 Uzbek companies earmarked for sale to foreign investors has been privatized since the beginning of the year, Russia's Finmarket news agency said, quoting a report Wednesday by Uzbekistan's presidential office.

The Uzbekistan government announced a plan earlier this year to sell to foreign concerns 49% of state-owned oil-and-gas holding company Uzbekneftegaz, which is valued at $1.5 billion, according the company's officials. The plan also included privatization of 44% of oil-and-gas extraction company Uzneftegazdobycha; 44% of gas-transport outlet Uztransgaz; 39% of drilling company Uzburneftegaz; and 39% of refinery group Uzneftepererabotka.

Much of the country's assets remain state-owned. Since independence in 1991 Uzbekistan has attracted just $1.2 billion in foreign capital. (Daily Deal)

here has been a conflict between local inhabitants and Uzbek border guards near the village of Ayry-Tam, in Ala-Buka District of [Kyrgyz southwest] Dzhalal-Abad Region, bordering on the village of Qum Qorghon in Kasansay District of Uzbekistan's [eastern] Namangan Region.

The Shakaftar river serves as the border between the two countries in this area and each bank has its own market place. There is a cattle market on the Kyrgyz side while on the other is a market for food and industrial goods. Inhabitants of the two sides have been using these market places freely for a long time. The conflict broke out at midday on 28th July when Uzbek border guards were examining the passports and belongings of two women from Kyrgyzstan on the bridge. The check was performed in a rude manner and caused shouts of indignation, which attracted a crowd of people from both sides. Surrounded by people who started to throw stones at them, the border guards fired assault rifles in the air several times and fled to Uzbek territory.

The head of the internal affairs department of the [Dzhalal-Abad] Region, Maj-Gen S. Dubanayev, said that about 400 local inhabitants had gathered at the military check point and one man had received a shoulder injury. He and a girl with a head injury were rushed to Ala-Buka District hospital. Representatives of the two sides and of bodies of the local administration, internal affairs and prosecutor's office carried out an investigation at the scene.

In conversation with the governor of Dzhalal-Abad Region, K. [Kubanychbek] Dzhumaliyev, the head of Namangan Region admitted that the border guards had been at fault and announced that five soldiers had been detained and that the military prosecutor's office had instituted criminal proceedings against them.

At the moment commissions are working at the scene to eliminate the causes of the conflict. The situation is calm and a friendship holiday will be held on the border between the two states at the end of the week.

n August 3, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Joseph A. Presel visited a DC-10 airplane, which provides unique medical training opportunities as well as the possibility of treatment for those with eye problems.

The plane's activities are sponsored by ORBIS, a U.S. non- governmental humanitarian assistance organization dedicated to preventing blindness worldwide. The ORBIS aircraft is the world's first, fully equipped flying eye hospital. During his visit to the DC-10, Ambassador Presel met with its staff of experienced medical personnel including ophthalmologists, nurses, anesthesiologists, biomedical engineers and technicians. They explained to him that this unique hospital aircraft serves as a forum for teaching and the exchange of skills and ideas in countries throughout the world.

In choosing its patients, ORBIS gives greatest priority to younger people who have serious problems in both eyes. It prefers to treat those who normally would not be able to pay for such treatment. ORBIS asks its host institution, the republican eye hospital, to refer patients who meet these criteria.

Four operations are performed on the ORBIS aircraft each day with additional two to three operations taking place at the republic eye hospital where local doctors work side-by-side with American surgeons. In the past two weeks, ORBIS has provided such medical services to fifty people.

This is the third visit of the ORBIS flying eye hospital to Uzbekistan. Previous visits took place in 1993 and 1997. The aircraft arrived in Uzbekistan on July 25 and will remain at Tashkent's International Airport until August 11.

resident karimov signed a decree on establishing a state committee for demonopolization and development of competition. His other two decrees promoted Finance Minister Rustam Azimov and Minister of Agriculture and Water Management Turop Holtoev to deputy prime minister.

tate pensions and some salaries in Uzbekistan have increased since August 1by an average of fifty per cent. State salaries are reviewed by the government each year, but adjustment is usually made in stages, not all at once.

This increase follows a raft of new currency measures introduced in July. These included an additional exchange rate - close to the unofficial or black market rate - for the buying and selling of hard currency. Economists say their full impact is unlikely to be felt for some months yet.

But the BBC's Central Asia correspondent says there is concern that this latest move could lead to further inflation, and people have been stocking up on essentials like flour and oil in anticipation of price rises.

n Wednesday, August 2, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Joseph A. Presel presented the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Said-Azim Aripov with nine, four-wheel drive vehicles. These vehicles will be used by Uzbekistan's Customs Service to patrol rural borders. The specially adapted, four-wheel drive vehicles, which include spare parts, are worth approximately three hundred thousand dollars.

The presentation ceremony took place at the Customs College in Tashkent. In addition to Chairman of the State Customs Committee Aripov, other Uzbek officials who attended the ceremony included Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Komilov and State Adviser to the President for coordination of the activity of law enforcement and control bodies U. Komilov.

The all-terrain vehicles are being provided to Uzbekistan under the terms of a 1998 Counternarcotics Agreement that was amended in March 2000. During her visit to Uzbekistan in April, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke at the Customs College about U.S. cooperation with Uzbekistan on border security. During her visit to the Customs College, she presented the Customs Service with 60 pagers for use in detecting radioactive materials.

The nine, all-wheel drive vehicles that Ambassador Presel presented to the Customs College on August 2 have been funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

ew visa regulations are going into operation today in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The new rules mean that for the first time Uzbek and Kyrgyz passport holders will need entry visas to travel from one state to the other.

The new system was initiated by Uzbekistan in response to growing concerns over drugs and arms smuggling in the region. The visas cost from four to twenty dollars and are valid for up to one year. People living in border areas who travel frequently to trade and visit relatives are exempt from the new requirements.

here once was a time when a man who needed a haircut in New York sought out the nearest barbershop and invariably found one staffed by Italian immigrants. Today, the neighborhood tonsorial parlor may be one owned and operated by an immigrant from Uzbekistan.

In the past 10 years, newcomers from Uzbekistan make up one of the most significant immigrant groups in New York City from the former Soviet Union. On average between 1995 and 1996-the most recent years for which statistics are available-more than 3,000 immigrants annually from Uzbekistan have settled in the five boroughs. More than 72 percent have settled in Queens, according to city statistics. Large concentrations of immigrants from Uzbekistan, many of whom are Bukharian Jews, now live in Flushing and Forest Hills.

As barbers, Uzbekistan immigrants are making their mark, filling in what had been a niche once occupied mainly by Italians and Italian-Americans, who have mostly moved on to other occupations.

No one may see that more clearly than Mike Zholendz of the American Barber Institute in Manhattan. He said that for the past five years about 50 percent of his students have been Bukharian Jews from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian republics. "The composition of the profession is changing," Zholendz says.

"I love my job," says Eddie Yakubov, 29, who together with his brother, Eli, 36, owns a barbershop in Astoria. "You have to understand people and you have to be honest. If a person wants you to cut their hair in a way that will look bad, you have to be honest enough to tell them what you think.

"They will respect you for it," he said.

Italian barbers used to run the Yakubov brothers' shop. The Yakubovs bought the store and its equipment shortly after their arrival in the United States in 1994. With its low capitalization requirements-as little as $10,000 may be all that is needed-barbering is an appealing business for new immigrants to break into in the United States, said Gloria Blumenthal of the New York Association for New Americans, a nonprofit immigrant aid group. Barbering, she said, was the number one profession for Bukharian Jews, and the association has a small-loan program to assist those Bukharian immigrants who want to get into the business.

The Yakubovs come from a long line of barbers. Both their father and grandfather were barbers, and they have another brother who has a barbershop on Long Island. Before arriving in New York in 1994, Eli and Eddie ran a barbershop together in their home city of Nawoiy. Like the majority of immigrants from Uzbekistan in New York, the Yakubovs are Bukharian Jews, named after the ancient city of Bukhara. Their ancestors came to Bukhara and other cities in Central Asia as traders working along the fabled Silk Road, the ancient trading route through which products, including silk from Asia, flowed west.

The Republic of Uzbekistan has experienced many economic problems. A wage-earner in Uzbekistan makes the equivalent of only $2,500 a year. Immigrants from Uzbekistan feel that the United States is the most prosperous country in the world and it is still "the land of opportunity" in their eyes.

"The important thing for us is that our children have a chance to get an American college education, to get a good start in life," says Eli.

Vyacheslav Nyazov, 34, who runs Brothers' Barber Shop on 27th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan with his brother, Nisan, 36, could not agree more.

"This is where we are going to make our fortune," he says. "We like everything about New York City." "Except maybe the subway," adds Nisan.

According to the Nyazov brothers, barbering was a very common profession for Jews in Uzbekistan during the Soviet era. "You could have a little bit better cash flow, and make a little bit more money than if you were a factory worker who got paid every five weeks," Nisan says.

"This was important for us as Jewish people," explains Vyacheslav. "We needed the extra money so we could celebrate the Jewish holidays like Passover and Yom Kippur properly. Maintaining our religion in a communist country, where religion was frowned upon, was not always easy." Barbering was also a job skill passed on from parent to offspring that could be easily transferred in case the need suddenly arose for Bukharians to emigrate, said Blumenthal.

Armen Gevorkyan, 23, who came to America in 1996 from Uzbekistan, agrees that adhering to the tenets of Judaism is important, but also insists that there is a long tradition of tolerance for different religious faiths in Uzbekistan. "Practicing religion was sometimes difficult," Gevorkyan says, "But most of my experiences growing up were quite positive. In Samarkand [a city in eastern Uzbekistan] we had people from a total of 76 nationalities living side by side, and we treated each other as brothers and sisters." Gevorkyan recently gave up barbering to start his own business-a travel company that will arrange tours from the United States to Uzbekistan. "We want to continue the tradition of the great Silk Road," he says, smiling.

n less than a month, the people of Uzbekistan will mark the nineth anniversary of the country's independence. A beautiful festival, which has become a tradition, will take place on the country's main square. Representatives of the armed forces of our state will also take an active part in the events.

A rehearsal of the "military part" of the holiday programme was held at the Tashkent high general military command school. Taking part are servicemen from the defence and internal affairs ministries, the National Security Service, the Ministry for Emergency Situations and the Committee for State Borders Protection, model orchestras of the defence and interior ministries, a singing and dancing group of the Defence Ministry and leading performers of the country.

The chief producer of the "military part", Maj A.Malabayev, said preparations for the holiday are currently in full swing. For the first time ever representatives from various military units will be represented. Prominent artists have also been invited to realize the idea. Dress rehearsals of the holiday show will be held at Mustaqillik square in the last week of August.

Members of the organizing committee for preparing and holding the nineth anniversary independence celebrations led by Deputy Prime Minister Hamidulla Karomatov took part in the viewing.

zbekistan harvested 3,076,900 tonnes of grain in the 2000 grain harvest, instead of the target 4.1m tonnes, the Agriculture Ministry told Interfax. The gross harvest in 1999 totalled 3.89m tonnes.

A total of 2.18m tonnes of grain has been purchased for state resources. Uzbekistan requires 287,200 tonnes of seed for the 2001 harvest, but currently has just 220,800 tonnes.

delegation of the Federal Criminal Police Service from Wiesbaden (in the Federal Republic of Germany) is visiting the Internal Affairs Ministry of Uzbekistan under an agreement, signed earlier, on preparations for holding a seminar on the issue of "Detecting explosives". The delegation includes senior criminal police commissars, Herbert Naassen and K.Obsommer.

A deputy head of the main directorate for combating corruption, racketeering and terrorism of the republic's Internal Affairs Ministry, police colonel B. Tursunov, received his German counterparts and had talks with them.

During their visit the German specialists will also visit TBBTU (Tashkent explosives technical college) of the republic's Internal Affairs Ministry, will familiarize themselves with the work of the military ranges and the system of training experts in detecting explosives and bomb disposal experts. During the talks, the two sides expressed the firm confidence that cooperation would be further developed and deepened.

long with new appointments (Azimov, Kholtayev, DPM posts), President Karimov appointed Rustam Shoabdurakhmanov as minister of macroeconomics and statistics. Earlier he worked on the presidential administration and was first Deputy Minister of macroeconomics and statistics.

delegation headed by the deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan, Valeriy Atayev, visited Great Britain between 23rd and 28th July. The main purpose of the visit was expanding cooperation between Uzbekistan and Great Britain in the oil and gas sector, and attracting direct foreign investments in the development of the oil and gas deposits in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan's opportunities in the oil and gas sector were presented at the British Invisibles [an organization which promotes the UK-based financial services industry throughout the world] and representatives of the business cirlce in Britain listened with interest to the speeches of the members of the Uzbek delegation.

The signing ceremony of a memorandum between Uzbekneftegas [Uzbek oil and gas] and the British Trinity Energy company on an investment project for prospecting and developing oil and gas fields in Uzbekistan took place at the Uzbek embassy in London.

he salaries of government employees in Uzbekistan were raised by 50 per cent on average on Tuesday [1st August]. The minimum wage is now 2,450 soms a month (278.93 soms/1 dollar - official rate and 760 soms/1 dollar - black market rate). All types of pensions, benefits and students' stipends were also raised.

At the same time, petrol prices were hiked 28 per cent on the average. Now a litre of A76 petrol will cost 115 soms, and 140 soms will buy a litre of A93.

Fares for public transport in the capital, Tashkent, rose 60 per cent to 40 soms a ride and rates for communication services throughout Uzbekistan went up 30 per cent on the average. Fees for electricity, housing and some food products went up as well.

n official delegation headed by the special UN envoy for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, will start a visit to Uzbekistan August 1. According to the agenda, the guests will have talks at the republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN office in Uzbekistan. They will discuss issues of establishing peace in Afghanistan, jointly combating international terrorism, drug trafficking and other issues.

session of the republican Commission on Monetary and Credit Policy held on 20th July considered the extent to which the activities of certain enterprises holding Central Bank licences meet the requirements of the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers' resolution No 405 of 19th November 1996 "On enhancing the effectiveness of use of centralized currency resources in importing consumer goods".

It was pointed out that the results of the analysis conducted by a special working group of the republican Commission on Monetary and Credit Policy and by authorized banks indicated that certain enterprises holding Central Bank licences were failing to work satisfactorily to supply the consumer market with goods in line with the requirements of the above resolution, and also pointed to breaches of the existing trading regulations.

The meeting noted that the heads of certain enterprises holding Central Bank licences were negligent about drawing up import contracts and importing consumer goods in a timely way and also deliberately delayed selling stockpiled goods and encashing the proceeds from their sale in line with the established procedure. Taking all this into account, the republican commission resolved to strip 47 enterprises and organizations of the Central Bank licences which give a priority right to convert soms into freely-convertible currency.

The State Taxation Committee, the Committee For Demonopolization and the Development of Competition under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan and authorized banks were also instructed regularly to submit to the commission proposals for considering depriving of licences those enterprises which fail to make effective use of the convertibility quotas they are allocated.

olice in Uzbekistan seized more than half a ton of opium during a Sunday raid at a storehouse in the Tashkent Region, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported. Police arrested several suspects as they were allegedly handing drugs to a courier who was supposed to take it to Russia. A total of 1,344 pounds of opium was confiscated.

Last Friday, Tashkent police detained a Tajik national on a Moscow-bound train and confiscated 106 pounds of heroin, worth about $1 million, he was carrying. During questioning, the suspect admitted that he was promised $1,000 for each kilogram of delivered heroin.

In May, in one of the most scandalous drug-related cases, Kazakh police in Almaty confiscated 137 pounds of heroin that had been hidden in two cars, one of which belonged to Tajikistan's ambassador to Kazakhstan. Detained suspects also carried $54,000 in cash and a bank check written for 1.26 million British pounds.

Narcotics smuggling from the Central Asian states to Russia has become a lucrative business as potential traffickers have little problem in crossing international borders -- the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States opted not to require visas for CIS nationals. This has resulted in lax border control and routine customs checks that had often drawn criticism from the agencies that investigate drug smuggling.

hinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Li Jingxian gave an interview to Uzbek TV. Here are excerpts:

[Q] A sitting of the Uzbek-Chinese commission held this week is the main reason why we have arranged this meeting with you today. Do you think China is really intending to cooperate with Uzbekistan more closely?

[A] Relations between the two countries are developing rapidly. We would like to note the special role in this of the personal contacts between the presidents. As for economic and trade relations, we need to point out that the quality of cooperation in these areas has improved. It is true that bilateral trade turnover is falling, for a whole series of objective reasons. It is important in this case to look for new forms of partnership. I can suggest two most promising ones: attracting Chinese investment in the Uzbek market and taking part in bids announced by the country. In this respect, we have already gained experience. A Chinese company is involved in a project for upgrading Tashkent airport. We also have another major project for building a new line of the capital's underground railway to be carried out by a company from my country.

[Q] Why is the development of relations in science and technology also being given rapt attention?

[A] Indeed, a whole range of issues were discussed [at the sitting]. Members of the Chinese delegation had the opportunity to visit several scientific and research institutions in Uzbekistan and outlined promising areas of bilateral cooperation, which included vegetable plant farming, use of solar energy, seismology, prospecting and study of commercial materials.

[Q] Mr Ambassador, we have the following question for you: how actively is China supporting the project for restoring the Great Silk Road? As far as I know, Beijing has its own interests in this.

[A] In the last few years, the leaders of our countries have been paying particular attention to the restoration of the Great Silk Road, which begins in China and goes through Uzbekistan. As known, the construction of the Kashgar-Osh-Andijan-Tashkent highway is in full swing. It will be commissioned soon. This will be the shortest route to Europe from Asia. As for the railway road that will link China with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, currently, a technical and economic survey has been carried out by experts from the three states.

[Q] As known, China is a six-plus-two group member, which in itself suggests that official Beijing supports Uzbekistan's proposals to set up this political club, created to work towards a settlement and have an impact on the settlement of the Afghan crisis. Could you please tell us what is Beijing's position and reaction to Tashkent's proposals to ensure security. You know what they are and what I mean - proposals for jointly combating international terrorism and extremism and drug dealing. What is the reaction of Beijing to all these proposals?

[A] The Chinese leadership backs the initiative demonstrated by the Uzbek president's [Islam Karimov] to settle the conflict in Afghanistan. I can say that the Chinese side is also interested in the soonest possible ending of the war, as the still unresolved Afghan issue is posing a threat to stability in the region. And we are ready to cooperate on this issue. I might add that meetings between the two presidents in Beijing last year [1999] in [Tajik capital] Dushanbe in July [2000] paid particular attention to ensuring security in Central Asia. Tasks were outlined to combat national separatism, religious extremism and international terrorism. The fact that Uzbekistan attended the Shanghai [Five] forum as an observer will, without doubt, assist the settlement of the said issues.

he first meeting of the Uzbek-Vietnamese intergovernmental commission on trade and economic, scientific and technical cooperation was held at the republic's Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations on July 31. The guests were told about the progress of the economic reforms under way in our country and preparations for the nineth anniversary of the republic's independence. The members of the delegation also visited a number of organizations and ministries in the republic and had meetings with specialists.

n the early hours of morning of 30th July three million dollars' worth of humanitarian cargo arrived at Uzbek Tashkent airport from the USA. The aid is addressed to the Soghlom Avlod Uchun for a Healthy Generation nongovernmental charity foundation and is intended to support the health care system. An IL-76 aircraft, belonging to the TAPOiCh, with humanitarian cargo on board has just landed at the airport. The cargo has been delivered under an agreement between the Soghlom Avlod Uchun nongovernmental charity and the AmeriCares (US international) humanitarian organization.

Close cooperation including in the humanitarian area will, without doubt, bring the peoples of the two countries closer together and help them reach a mutual understanding on many points. Jennifer Malik, AmeriCares project director, said that they have been working with the Soghlom Avlod Uchun foundation for more than one year and are willing to continue cooperation especially in this year of a Healthy Generation.

The humanitarian cargo, weighing 28 t, contains antibiotics, anaesthetics, various items of medical equipment, nutritional supplements, vitamins and hygiene kits. The cargo has been paid for by the US Department of State.

US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Joseph Presel said that:"This is cooperation between US nongovernmental organizations and Uzbek nongovernmental organizations. It is not aid. I would prefer to call it cooperation between our two countries, or even between our two peoples".

The cargo will be distributed by the Soghlom Avlod Uchun foundation in cooperation with the Health Ministry and also with the involvement of AmeriCares representatives. The distribution will be arranged in agreement with the republican commission on humanitarian aid under the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers. The recipients of the aid include primarily clinics at scientific research institutions of paediatrics, cardiology, obstetrics and oncology, accident clinics and central Regional hospitals.

Oynisa Musurmonova, chairwoman of the board of the Soghlom Avlod Uchun charity, said:"We express our gratitude to all organizers, organizations and private individuals involved in this humanitarian action".

fter a long suspension, permanent flights are to be resumed between the Tajik and Uzbek capitals, Dushanbe and Tashkent, in August this year. The first technical aircraft, carrying experts from the two countries, is to fly from Dushanbe to Tashkent on 1st August. They will agree on the procedure for flights and exchange views on drawing up a timetable and on flight tickets. Regular Dushanbe-Tashkent flights are expected to be launched on 14th August.

resident Islam Karimov told a session of the council of People's Deputies in the southern Region of Kashkadarya on 28th July that "drastic measures" were needed to put right the Region's problems, and said he was transferring the country's first deputy prime minister, Bakhtiyor Hamidov, to the post of governor. Karimov described the former governor, Shukhrat Begmatov, as "weak ... and not resolute and exacting enough". Criticizing the Region's failures in agriculture, industrial performance and social welfare, Karimov added that there was a need to boost people's morale in the Region. The transfer to Kashkadarya from the "comfortable" life in the capital, Tashkent, Karimov said, will be a "test" for the new governor, Hamidov.

The following are excerpts from the speech, as broadcast on Uzbek TV on 28th July:

[President Islam Karimov, shown at rostrum] Despite the fact that the Region has fertile lands and a good climate, over the last two years alone cotton production there fell 57,000 t short of the annual target and the plan for cotton sales to the state was not met. Nine of 14 Districts, and 96 of 176 specialized cotton farms in the Region failed to meet the annual state cotton target last year alone.

Only 59 per cent of the grain target was met. Of course we understand well, we realize, people who have eyes and wisdom fully understand that there were objective reasons. This year has been a difficult one for agriculture. We have a drought and there is a lack of water. Due to lack of water in the Talimardzhan [on Turkmen border] and other reservoirs, many crops have perished. Not only farms but people, too, have been experiencing great difficulties. We all know this, acknowledge it and regret it. That is why the state, our government, has been taking and will continue to take measures to deal with aftermath of the drought.

We are used to blaming governors for everything. It is the governors we criticize. We say that governors' [political] awareness is low, that they do not meet the present-day requirements, they only think about their own purposes and that they are distant from the people. It is easy to criticize them and make demands on them while you are sitting in Tashkent. For God's sake, you ,too, come down here and try for yourself!

That is the sort of thing we should be thinking about. Let's bring a minister here and put him in charge of a District. Could you endure six months' work here, then? It will be just to do that. Maybe after that you will find a common language in resolving problems. When a person finds himself in an [regional] official's shoes he will grow wiser or will limit his criticism.

When analysing the current situation in the Region one can see that the Region's [outgoing] leader [Shukhrat Begmatov] is weak, his [political] awareness does not meet the requirements, he is insufficiently resolute and exacting. This is the truth.

Today I have come to a conclusion. Given Kashkadarya's future potential, the significance the state attributes to it and the fact that the country's fate depends on Kashkadarya's development and given many other factors, all of which I have taken into account - given the fact that Kashkadarya is now in a very difficult state, I have decided to bring here a knowledgeable and experienced man, a man who meets present-day requirements, who knows the essence of the reforms, someone who will bolster the people's morale, who will mobilize them for work and be the head in the region, a father figure. I think that people sitting here already know about him. I would like to recommend Bakhtiyor Sultanovich Hamidov to you.

[Karimov addressing Hamidov] You were born in Tashkent, in the capital. One cannot compare Tashkent with Kashkadarya. Tashkent is the centre, the capital. Life is comfortable in the capital and it is hard in Kashkadarya. There are many differences between Tashkent and Kashkadarya. You are 56 years old and from some point of view you will see how different life is in Kashkadarya's Chirakchi, Mubarek, and Usman Yusupov [Districts] or on the [Akmal] Saidov farm where [ethnic] Arabs live. You will see all this.

He [Hamidov] should realize that his appointment to Kashkadarya is a test for him. [Karimov addressing Hamidov] You will undergo a test. You will be on a trial for at least a year. You will test yourself, nobody will test you. But people will assess your work. After a year, Abdullajon [People' Poet and Hero of Uzbekistan Abdulla Oripov, who is from Kashkadarya] will meet his admirers and ask them about their new leader, ask whether they like him. If, in reply to his [Oripov's] question: Can you consider Hamidov to be a Kashkadarya man? they unaminously say: Yes we can, then it would mean you have passed the test.

What lies in the very essence of these words? Unless we take such drastic measures, unless we plan and aim a change of attitude in our work today, we should beware that, as leaders - I am speaking particularly of myself, as the leader - unless I take such a firm decision today, tomorrow it will be too late. As president, I arrived at this decision. Under such circumstances I decided to bring the first deputy prime minister of the Uzbek state to Kashkadarya to make him its governor. And now it is up first of all to him and secondly to you.

fghanistan continues to cast a menacing shadow on neighbouring countries. Drugs, war, terrorism - this whole bouquet is in full blossom on the Afghan soil. In this situation, the country's neighbours prefer to follow what is happening through the sights of a gun.

Most probably, the protection offered to Bin Ladin can be explained as a continuation of the old Taleban policy of spreading and supporting radical representatives of the Muslim community of this or that state in their fight against their government. The activity of the religious radicals' other guests and allies - Tajik and Chechen gunmen - is most often reported.

The Uzbek special services this week [week starting 24th July] managed to detain an envoy of the well-known field commander Khattab [operating in Chechnya], who was to have crossed the border with Afghanistan and then to take a sum of money received there back to the Caucasus. Tohir Yoldosh, leader of Uzbekistan's Islamic movement, and Bin Ladin were to give the money for the gunmen.

The Taleban are apparently coordinating radical Muslim extremists throughout the former USSR. And the acts of terrorism in Tajikistan and the dealings of the drugs traffickers are also all part of some Islamist plan to penetrate the Central Asian region. The translation into Russian of propaganda broadcasts on territories north of Afghanistan's borders serves as confirmation of this. (Kazakh newspaper 'Delovaya Nedelya')

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zbekistan has been fighting a fire at the Kokdumalak compressor station in the Uzbek republic's Kashkadarya Region without Russian aid.

Uzbek Deputy Emergencies Minister Adkham Yakubov told Interfax on Friday [28th July] that his government has not asked the Russian Emergencies Ministry for help in battling the fire, which flared up at a compressor station near a big Uzbek oilfield.

The deputy minister explained that "telephone conversations consultative by nature have taken place between the ministries for emergency situations of Uzbekistan and Russia". "Specialists agreed that no outside aid would be required and the fire is being localized by the fire-fighting forces of the republic's Interior Ministry," Yakubov said.

No casualties have been reported as a result of the fire. The oil wells are out of danger and the entire oilfield personnel and residents of the local community have been evacuated.

n extraordinary session of the Kashkadarya Regional Council of People's Deputies was held in Karshi [the administrative centre of Kashkadarya, southern Uzbekistan] July 28. Uzbek President Islam Karimov attended the session and made a speech. The sesssion considered a personnel matter. The Region's governor, Shukhrat Begmatov, has been released from his post in line at his own request.

Bakhtiyor Hamidov, who until today held the post of first deputy prime minister, has been appointed governor of Kashkadarya Region.