Page 67 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine December 2023

bne December 2023 EuraEusraisaia I 67
“UK agencies have been under-resourced in comparison with the wealthy individuals they are investigating,
and the report calls on Government
to increase resources available to law enforcement authorities, including the National Crime Agency and the Serious Fraud Office.”
The report also urges the National Crime Agency to send agents to liaise with Central Asian governments on developing cooperation on unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) and on returning stolen public assets from the UK.
The report further finds that there
are close links between the drugs
trade in Central Asia and ruling elites and organised crime, and that funds originating in the drugs trade are being channelled through the City of London. The committee argues that the UK
cannot shirk its responsibilities: it is not only the source of demand for narcotics but is also complicit in the washing of the illicit gains of the trade.
Sanctions evasion by Russia via Central Asian states is a threat to international measures against Russia’s renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine, the report also observes.
The UK government, it said, should work with Central Asian states to reduce the dependence of their economies on that of Russia in the medium to lon term and to close off opportunities for entities involved in sanctions evasion to use the City of London and UK services.
The committee also underscored the dangers of Russian disinformation in Central Asia, with the report arguing “that the insidious messages spread by
the Russian state have a powerful impact on Central Asian states’ sovereignty
and comments on how the older generation views the renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine and the nature of UK engagement in their countries”.
In another observation, the report finds that China has taken advantage of the waning of Russian influence in Central Asia, with part of this involving provision of Chinese surveillance technology that could be used to further curtail the rights of citizens.
The report also says that the UK's response should not aim to outcompete China but to take an assertive stance, providing different options to Central Asian leadership as they pursue regional cooperation. “This will be key to the independence of Central Asian states from their powerful neighbour,” it advises.
Macron compliments Kazakhstan on not bowing to Kremlin
bne IntelIiNews
No doubt to Moscow’s displeasure, French President Emmanuel Macron grasped the nettle
in taking on the delicate subject of post-Soviet Kazakhstan’s relations
with Russia during his November 1
visit to the Central Asian country, complimenting the nation for not bowing to the Kremlin.
“France values ... the path you are following for your country, refusing to be a vassal of any power and seeking to build numerous and balanced relations with different countries,” Macron said at a meeting with Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
“I don’t underestimate by any means the geopolitical difficulties, the pressures
... that some may be putting on you,” Macron also told Tokayev, who for his part hailed the visit as “historic”.
Tokayev called France a “key and reliable partner” in the European Union and said he would work to give the partnership “extra impetus”.
Macron – who moved on from Central Asia’s largest economy to its second
largest, Uzbekistan – was not only in Kazakhstan to deliver blandishments. He and Tokayev signed a series of bilateral contracts across sectors including minerals, energy, pharmaceuticals and aerospace. Macron would likely have also underlined France’s desire to build
Tokayev, left, told Macron he is going to give Kazakhstan's cooperation with France “extra impetus”. / Akorda
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