American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce
Business Newsletter

 

Week in Review:


January 27, 2012 - February 3, 2012  

 

In this issue
AUCC in Brief
Daily Press Briefing by Victoria Nuland, Spokersperson, U.S. Department of State
Uzmetkombinat plans to produce 710,400 tonnes of rolled ferrous metals in 2012
Gazprom purchases 27bn cubic meters of gas from Central Asia in 2011
Uzavtosanoat to utilize investments for US$257.6m in 2012
Copper cleaning plant of AMMP to process 600 thousand tons more of ore this year
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AUCC in Brief 

Established in 1993, the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce (AUCC) is a private, non-profit trade association representing interests of U.S. businesses ranging in size from small private enterprises to large, multinational corporations conducting business in Uzbekistan.

Our Mission: To advocate the views of the business community to ensure that private sector positions are considered during the development of key policies that impact American businesses and the future of U.S.-Uzbekistan relations.

Our Objective: To serve the needs of its members by strengthening commercial relations between the United States and Uzbekistan. 

http://www.state.gov of 2/1/2012     

 

[Excerpt on Uzbekistan.  Full text is here]     

 

"QUESTION: A question on Uzbekistan: Are you able to comment on reports of the - reports out there today that the Administration waived a ban on nonlethal military assistance to Uzbekistan on a temporary basis? Are you able to confirm that and offer any guidance?

MS. NULAND: I am. Under the Foreign Operations and Related Programs Act of 2012, the Secretary of State has the authority to waive certain restrictions on assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan if she certifies that it is in the national security interest of the United States to do so, and also that it's necessary to obtain access to and from Afghanistan for U.S. assistance to that country. The Secretary has issued such a waiver in this case. She made the determination on January 18th and we put it forward to the Hill a couple of days later. It is a six-month waiver. This is the first time we have done this one. She'll have to review again six months from now. And this is waiver authority that we have through 2013.

QUESTION: And there are some critics that will say that this sort of - this is giving the Uzbek Government a free pass on alleged abuses they committed. Is there any response to that sort of criticism for taking this action?

MS. NULAND: Well, we certainly reject the notion that anybody's being given a free pass on human rights. As you know, the Secretary was in Uzbekistan in October, had a chance to work on the full range of our bilateral and regional issues, but also spoke very frankly to President Karimov, to members of his government, about our ongoing interest in support for human rights, reforming the system, our concern about individual cases. So this is part and parcel of our diplomacy.

She also spoke out very clearly the day before in Tajikistan about our specific concerns about the rights of minorities, the rights of children, the rights of women, about the court system, all of these kinds of things. So nobody is shying away from having the tough conversation. That said, we also have other interests and things that we need to protect in our relationship with Uzbekistan.

QUESTION: So you seem to be saying that this equipment, or whatever it is, is going to be used for the Northern Distribution Network. Would that be --

MS. NULAND: Yeah. Examples of the kinds of things that this waiver was given for - this will enhance the Uzbeks' ability to counteract transnational terrorism and all - things like night vision goggles, personal protection equipment, global positioning systems. It's defensive in nature, and it's also supportive of their ability to secure the routes in and out of Afghanistan.

QUESTION: I'm sorry. I was under the impression it was weapons. This is all nonlethal stuff?

MS. NULAND: I don't have exactly - I don't - but beyond what I just gave you, examples of equipment - vision goggles, personal protection equipment - it's all defensive in nature. With regard to lethal/nonlethal, let me get that for you, Matt.

QUESTION: But wasn't the - I mean, there were restrictions in the law that --

MS. NULAND: On any.

QUESTION: Yeah, but they had already been - I guess I don't understand, because while we were there --

MS. NULAND: Right.

QUESTION: -- this was a topic of discussion, and it was - maybe I was - a misimpression, but it was my impression that they were already getting nonlethal stuff.

MS. NULAND: I can't speak to what --

QUESTION: There had been a decision almost a year ago on --

MS. NULAND: I think that whatever we had on the books had expired and needed to be renewed, but we can get you a brief on the precise details, yeah.

QUESTION: Okay. Yeah, please, because it came up. It was a topic of - I remember it being a topic of conversation, at least on the plane.

MS. NULAND: Well, one of the topics of conversation was that the Uzbeks were asking for more than we were giving and were concerned about their ability to protect the routes and concerned about their ability to be effective counterterrorism partners.

Please."   

http://uzdaily.com of 2/2/2012  


Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbek Metallurgy Combine (Uzmetkombinat) open joint stock company plans to produce 710,400 tonnes of rolled ferrous metals in 2012.

The company said that it is planning to produce 177,000 tonnes of milling balls in 2012.

According to the company's plans, this year Uzmetkombinat will export 232,000 tonnes of rolled ferrous metals.

The company said that it will require 983,300 tonnes of metal scarps and import 280,000 tonnes from outside of the company.

The combine plans to produce consumer goods for 32.9 billion soums in 2012.

Uzmetkombinat has been established in line with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan No. 159 from 24 March 1994 through re-organization of the state enterprise.

The enterprise specializes on processing ferrous metal scraps, production and realization of special iron, as well as other metal products and consumer goods.

Shareholders of Uzmetkombinat are the government (71.91%), labour (10%), National Bank of Uzbekistan for Foreign Economic Activity (3.85%), Avtosaninvestsavdo (3.85%), Navoi mining and metallurgy combine (3.85%), Almalyk mining and metallurgy combine (3.85%) and other individuals (2.69%).

http://uzdaily.com of 2/2/2012  


Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Gazprom OJSC kept the volume of purchased gas from Central Asia and Azerbaijan at the level of 27 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011, RIA Novosti reported quoting representative of Gazprom Export.

According to the report, the Russian company purchased 27 billion cubic meters of gas from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, which is at the same level as in 2010.

In 2011, Gazprom was also planning to purchase 10 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan.

In April 2011, Gazprom official said that the holding will keep gas purchase volume from Central Asian region at the level of 35 billion cubic meters of gas. Earlier, Gazprom was planning to increase purchase of gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan by 2% to 38.8 billion cubic meters of gas.

In 2009, Gazprom purchased 37.3 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2009 and 38 billion cubic meters of gas in 2010.

http://uzdaily.com of 2/1/2012    

 

Uzavtosanoat joint stock company, which unites enterprises of automobile industry of Uzbekistan, is planning to utilize investments for US$257.6 million in 2012.

It is expected that US$192.8 million of total investments will be own resources of Uzavtosanoat, US$19.4 million - foreign investment and US$45.5 million - loans of local banks.

In particular, it is planned to utilize US$136 million within the project on launch of serial production of Chevrolet Cobalt sedan at GM Uzbekistan.

Uzavtosanoat will invest some US$70 million to projects on production of components and spare parts for Chevrolet Cobalt at the existing enterprises.

Man Auto-Uzbekistan, an Uzbek-German joint venture, will launch new capacities on production of commercial vehicles at Samarkand region.

The first stage of the project envisages production of 3,000 trucks and chassis of MAN a year. The project cost is US$30 million.

UzSungwoo will launch production of stamped/welded automobile parts with the cost of US$47.8 million. The designed capacity of the plant is 120,000 sets a year. The venture was founded by Uzavtosanoat and South Korean Sungwoo Hitech Company on an equal footing.

Uzauto-austem JV will start production of wheel disks and chassis junctions for new models of GM Uzbekistan with the cost of US$31 million in Andijan. Annually, the venture will produce 900,000 wheel disks and 123,000 chassis junctions.

Uzavtosanoat will also direct US$42.9 million to expansion of production at the existing enterprises on production of components and spare parts.

Copper cleaning plant of AMMP to process 600 thousand tons more of ore this year

http://business.uzreport.com of 31/1/2012 

 

The copper cleaning plant (CCP) is one of the major industries in the chain of Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (AMMP). As the press service of the enterprise reports, the passed year was quite tough for CCP workers, because it was necessary to not only to keep up with the result achieved in 2010, but also to improve, provide some growth rate, which determines the stable operation of the enterprise. The plant fulfilled the norm for ore processing on December 24, one day earlier, on production of collective copper concentrate on December 19, and production of molybdenum in molybdenum middling was complete on November 25.
In 2011, specialists of the automated technologic process control system at subdivisions of CCP automated various processes, allowing improved visual inspection. In particular, they reconstructed the dispatcher, introduced a system of automatic feed of mill balls in the first stage at the grinding and flotation workshop, water in the mill and loading is performed automatically as well. All this helped to stabilize the work of grinding and flotation units.
The shop on selection and drying of copper-molybdenum concentrate passed major overhaul of the first technological line of replacement of the drying drum, which is held once in 15 years.
In 2011, unplanned downtime in the workshops of the factory reduced almost twice. This was possible owing to high-quality and timely repair works and supply with necessary spare parts. In addition, production of rollers for the needs of the factory was arranged, and now there is no need for suppliers. In the long term the objective is to provide these parts for other divisions of AMMP.
Last year was the fiftieth anniversary of the copper cleaning plant. This significant event was timed to many different activities. Landscaping continued, reconstruction of the health center was held, a museum opened, baton of culture, labor and sports, as well as a great festive occasion were organized.
It should be noted that the improvement works, and creating favorable conditions for the workers of the company continues. Currently various production facilities, management being renovated, special attention is paid to shower rooms.
The new year has started and posed certain tasks: it is necessary to achieve growth in both quality and quantity. 600 thousand tons more ore to be processed in 2012 and the plant needs to reach full power at CCP.
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Contact Information

 

The American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce
1300 I Street, N.W., Suite 720W
Washington, DC 20005
phone: 202.509.3744
[email protected]
www.aucconline.com  

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