During the visit, which will continue until 4th December, members of the European Union's delegation will hold negotiations at the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and will meet representatives of the European Union states, accredited in Uzbekistan.

A meeting of the Uzbekistan-European Union trade and investment subcommittee will be held on 30th November.

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A deputy of the chamber, Tashbolot Baltabayev, spoke to journalists about this. In his speech, emphasis was laid mainly on the situation regarding Uzbekistan mining the approaches to its enclave Sokh, which are on Kyrgyz territory.

Baltabayev: "Four head of livestock have been blown up by mines on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border since September 2000. The border has not been delimited or demarcated yet."

Fortunately, there have been no casualties among people yet. However, no one knows how long this good luck will hold because, according to Tashbolot Baltabayev, there are not even border signs there.

Uzbekistan, in particular, the head of the Fergana Regional state administration, on the contrary, has accused Kyrgyzstan. The Fergana Region governor said that mines had been planted in Uzbek territory only, which, according to Baltabayev, is not true, to put it mildly. According to Baltabayev and to our border guards, the claim that Kyrgyzstan has been given a map of minefields around Sokh is a lie. It was said at the news conference that the root of all this misunderstanding was in the fact that the border between the two states had not been delimited or demarcated yet.

According to representatives of the Foreign Ministry, this issue is being dealt with at the moment, but it is not yet clear when it will be resolved. The situation in the republic's south is alarming and we do not want relations between the two states to be spoilt, which, undoubtedly, would play into the hands of international terrorists.

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In his address, broadcast on Uzbek TV late on 27th November, on the eve of the festival of Ramadan, the head of the Spiritual Department of Uzbekistan's Muslims recited some verses from the Holy Koran connected with Ramadan, and spoke about the importance of patriotism, education and respect for elders.

"On the occasion of the festival of Ramadan, I call for God's blessing on the leaders of our homeland and their good deeds to serve the interests of our land, the development of our homeland and the wellbeing and tranquillity of our people," the mufti said.

The month of Ramadan has begun in Uzbekistan on 28th November.

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The head of the ADB's mission in Uzbekistan, V.N. Gnanathurai, spoke about the successes of the Region's businessmen and entrepreneurs and announced that the bank had decided to allocate a 50m-dollar credit for new projects. Investors are showing an interest in projects prepared in the Region.

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The chief coach of the national team, Rustam Torayev, was relieved of his post and was replaced with 28 year-old Armen Bagdasarov, who is a merited master of sport, a silver medallist of the 1996 Olympics Games, and a participant of the Sydney Olympics. Bagdasarov is also two-times Asian champion and a world championship prizewinner.

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