(S) MAFIA BOSS FIXES GOU TENDERS AND JOBS \

62979 2006-05-05 12:59:00 06TASHKENT902 Embassy Tashkent SECRET 06TASHKENT465 VZCZCXRO9116\ PP RUEHDBU\ DE RUEHNT #0902/01 1251259\ ZNY SSSSS ZZH ZUI RUEHSD 0065W 1252226 H/W ZDS\ P 051259Z MAY 06\ FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT\ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5716\ INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY PRIORITY 7884\ RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT PRIORITY 1962\ RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK PRIORITY 2491\ RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE PRIORITY 2392\ RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1455\ RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 6648\ RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY\ RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY\ RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY\ RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY\ RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000902 \ \ SIPDIS \ \ SIPDIS \ \ DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL \ \ E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2016 \ TAGS: KCRM PGOV ECON PREL PINR UZ SUBJECT: (S) MAFIA BOSS FIXES GOU TENDERS AND JOBS \ \ REF: TASHKENT 465 \ \ TASHKENT 00000902 001.2 OF 002 \ \ \ Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) \ \ \ ¶1. (S) Summary: A well connected Embassy contact described a \ mafia chieftain's role in helping businessmen to secure GOU \ tenders and job applicants to "buy" government jobs. Crime \ boss Salim Abduvaliyev puts bidders for tenders in touch with \ an Iranian businessman holding British citizenship, who \ submits the paperwork to First Daughter Gulnora Karimova for \ approval. Salim works with the Deputy Minister of Internal \ Affairs responsible for personnel issues to arrange \ government jobs, agreeing on a price and then adding his own \ fee before selling the position. Salim has reportedly sold a \ wide range of Government positions, including regional Hokim, \ police chief, and Ministry of Internal Affairs jobs. A \ Presidential Adviser and a former Minister of the Interior \ also reportedly worked closely with Salim on job placement \ transactions. End summary. \ \ ¶2. (S) An Embassy contact with close connections to the \ families of senior GOU officials, and distantly related to \ mafia chieftain Salim Abduvaliyev (reftel),told Poloff that \ Salim often serves as a middleman in fixing GOU tenders and \ helping applicants obtain government jobs. Foreign investors \ can "win" GOU tenders by arranging them through Salim, who \ charges a percentage of revenues as a fee. Many job \ applicants have approached the contact, a close friend of \ Salim's wife, Shahlo, asking for introductions to Salim in \ order to "purchase" a GOU job. (Note: Both public and \ private sector jobs are routinely "bought" in Uzbekistan. \ End note.) \ \ CONTRACT AND TENDER GRAFT \ -------------- \ \ ¶3. (S) According to the contact, Salim locates foreign and \ other investors interested in GOU tenders, putting them in \ touch with an Iranian businessman holding British \ citizenship. The Iranian prepares the paperwork, submitting \ the tender to First Daughter Gulnora Karimova for approval. \ (Note: According to the contact, former Deputy PM Dilbar \ Gulomova's son works for this Iranian. End note.) Tenders \ arranged through this process reportedly include the Dutch \ Gemka (ph) firm's railway investment in Bukhara, which \ required paying Salim a $700,000 fee, a Swiss/Israeli \ company's water project in the Tashkent region, and a Korean \ company's large-scale contract to provide computers to \ schools. \ \ GOU JOBS FOR SALE! \ -------------- \ \ ¶4. (S) A man named "Abror hoja" brings job applicants to \ Salim, who discusses the price of the purchase and \ facilitates the transaction. The contact said that Salim has \ sold a wide range of government positions, including regional \ Hokim, regional police chief, and high and mid-ranking jobs \ at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Salim works closely \ with Tursinkhan Hudaibergenov, Deputy Minister of Internal \ Affairs for personnel issues, to facilitate GOU job \ placements. Salim agrees on a price with Hudaibergenov, \ before adding his own fee, and selling the position at the \ higher price. (Note: The contact said that Salim closely \ cooperated in the past on such job purchase transactions with \ State Adviser to the President Ismail Jurabekov, and former \ Minister of Interior Zokir Almatov. End note.) \ \ ¶5. (S) In one example of Salim's sway over GOU personnel \ decisions, a regional mayor appealed to him for help \ retaining his job after he came under pressure to resign. \ The wife of Maksim Teshebaev, the mayor of Tashkent's \ region's Orta Chirchik district, approached Salim's wife \ asking for Salim's support. For the right price, Salim \ promised that Teshebaev would be able to retain his job. \ According to the contact, Salim instructed Teshebaev to make \ a payment to his brother, Azamjon Abduvaliyev, in order to \ retain the job. But after the payment was made, Salim \ reportedly mocked the amount of money Teshebaev offered, \ \ TASHKENT 00000902 002.2 OF 002 \ \ \ saying he "couldn't eat a meal" for that amount. \ \ ¶6. (S) Comment: Salim's role in securing GOU tenders and jobs \ sheds further light on the close connections between \ organized crime and the GOU (reftel). Corruption is rampant \ in the GOU. Tenders and government positions can be fairly \ easily secured by paying the right amount of money to the \ appropriate individual, leading to a situation in which \ unqualified individuals have every incentive to engage in \ further corrupt activity to pay off the large debts they \ usually incur making down payments on the jobs. \ PURNELL \