(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\
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RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000902 \
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DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL \
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2016 \
TAGS: KCRM PGOV ECON PREL PINR UZ
SUBJECT: (S) MAFIA BOSS FIXES GOU TENDERS AND JOBS \
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REF: TASHKENT 465 \
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TASHKENT 00000902 001.2 OF 002 \
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Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) \
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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. \
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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.) \
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CONTRACT AND TENDER GRAFT \
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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. \
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GOU JOBS FOR SALE! \
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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.) \
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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, \
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TASHKENT 00000902 002.2 OF 002 \
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saying he "couldn't eat a meal" for that amount. \
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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 \