Tashkent Tidbits September 17, 2009

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001493 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/17 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON KCOR UZ SUBJECT: Tashkent Tidbits September 17, 2009 CLASSIFIED BY: Nicholas Berliner, Pol-Econ Chief; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) Against All Odds, It's Pakhtakor 1-0! -------------- ¶1. (C) A Brazilian coach for Uzbekistan's premiere team, Bunyodkor, recently told PE Chief of an incident following a match against Bunyodkor's poor rival Pakhtakor (the cotton pickers)in which Bunyodkor lost 1-0 when most of its Brazilian star power got red cards in the first 10 minutes of play. The head referee called the coach after the match saying he was very sorry, but that he "had to feed his family," explaining that he had received an order from the president of the Uzbek Soccer Federation that Pakhtakor was to win the match 1-0. Bunyodkor, which is purportedly bankrolled by first daughter Gulnara Karimova, has been importing Brazilian talent at a dizzying rate of late, supposedly in an effort to become competitive in the Asian League and, in so doing, raise Uzbekistan's profile in the region. Pakhtakor, meanwhile, is the older of the two teams and plays with an entirely Uzbek lineup. The match that Bunyodkor "lost" was a domestic one, having no effect on the team's prospects for international play, but quite probably having a significant effect on bookies' payouts on the long odds of a Pakhtakor win. Few spheres of life in Uzbekistan are immune from the pervasive corruption that plagues this society and sport, in particular, seems subject to its corrosive influence. Dutch NGO Interested in Uzbekistan -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Betta Plebani, a freelance photojournalist with PressNow, a Dutch NGO that supports media freedom, met with poloff on August 20 to get a sense of what sort of programs might be possible in Uzbekistan. PressNow is currently planning a conference in Europe to raise awareness about Uzbekistan and media freedom, and it is looking at offshore radio or training opportunities within Uzbekistan in the future. Plebani came as a tourist and kept a low profile while she was in town, not even bringing her business cards for fear of being identified as a foreign journalist. Travel for This Year's Haj -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Independent news website Harakat.net reported on September 14 that the GOU, in an effort to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, intends to not allow its citizens to participate in the Haj this year. A representative from the mufti administration denied the assertion, stating that between 4000 and 5000 Uzbek citizens are expected to participate in the Haj this year, as usual. No Hijabs in Schools -------------- ¶4. (SBU) There have been numerous reports recently of stepped up enforcement of a ban on the wearing of hijabs in Uzbekistan's public schools, with school officials allegedly forcibly removing scarves from any girl wearing one. Reports also suggest that girls who wear hijabs to school suffer ridicule from their peers. This is a contentious issue in Uzbekistan (as it was in France),with some defending the wearing of the hijab as a symbol of religious expression and others denouncing it as a foreign influence (it is not traditional in Uzbekistan) and a sign of encroaching "Islamization" in Uzbek society. The hijab is not an uncommon sight on the streets of Tashkent; in fact, some Uzbeks say it is becoming a more frequent sight. Cash for Clunkers Uzbek Style -------------- TASHKENT 00001493 002 OF 002 ¶5. (SBU) Uzbeks recently had a chance to buy new cars in their own currency in celebration of Independence Day earlier this month. This was unusual in that generally the cars, produced at GM's joint venture in Andijon Province, are sold for dollars. Equally novel is the fact that so many are available on the local market. At the same time last year, there was a waiting list for these cars and used models were being sold for more than new ones due to their scarcity. The availability of cars on the domestic market, while good for Uzbeks eager to trade in their old Zhiguli or Moskvich, is a consequence of the global economic crisis and a significant dampening of demand for the cars in Russia and Kazakhstan, their primary export markets. The ability to purchase the cars for soum amounted to a 20 percent discount over the dollar price as buyers went to the black market to buy the necessary quantity of 1000 soum notes (66 cents US) at rates of 1800 per dollar when the cars were priced on the basis of the official rate of 1500 per dollar. The high demand for soums over the five day period narrowed the spread between the official and black market exchange rates (it was over 1900 soums to the dollar before the holiday) and provided an important inflow of soum cash for the Andijon plant to pay its workers and suppliers (companies all over Uzbekistan have difficulty getting sufficient quantities of cash as a consequence of anti-inflation policies to restrict this part of the money supply). This fleet of new Nexias and Matizes is now competing for space with forty-year-old Soviet models and the occasional donkey cart, providing a growing workload for the ubiquitous traffic police. NORLAND