Page 34 - bne magazine November 2021_20211104 uzbekistan risding

34 I Cover story bne November 2021
familiar to him: a state-dominated centrally planned command economy. To give him credit, the economy did make progress. Industry was rescued and a sophisticated automotive sector built up that exported its UzDaewoo cars all over the CIS, now rebranded UzAvto after Daewoo collapsed several years ago. Rising gold prices added another source of revenue and Karimov
West. Certainly the new administration has in no way demonised or heavily criticised Karimov, but then Mirziyoyev served as his prime minister for several years, so the current administration prefers to emphasis the continuity.
Change of guard
The first stop of the tour was the far western town of Nukus, a lost settlement
disaster, as over-irrigation had seen the water table rise to the surface and the fields were caked with salt that lay like snow on the ground. The local firms had no money and were paying their workers with sacks of pasta so that at least they had something to eat.
The white goods manufacturer Artel set up a hoover assembly plant in Nukus in 2011 during Karimov’s time under licence from Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung, but since then has expanded production to include several of its own branded items that are now best sellers not only in Uzbekistan but throughout Central Asia and in the CIS.
After a stop-off in the ancient Silk
Road way station of Khiva where the legendary 1,001 Nights stories are
set, we travelled on to the industrial mining town of Navoi that is home to Muruntau, the largest open-cast gold mine in the world, as well as NavoiAzot, a large petrochemicals plant, and Qizilqumsement, the biggest cement plant in the country.
When I visited the gold mine 20 years ago the city was a grimy run-down place with few shops and little life on the
“Many are appreciative of the stability and improved living conditions they enjoyed under
Karimov and he is not widely seen as the dictator that he is viewed as in the West”
introduced some market reforms such as special economic zones, but they were not enough. Uzbekistan fell far behind its local rival Kazakhstan, even if it didn't turn into a complete basket case like Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Many people interviewed for this article were appreciative of the stability and improved living conditions they enjoyed under Karimov and he is not widely seen as the dictator that he is viewed as in the
in the midst of the Qizilqum (aka Kyzyl-Kum) desert and the capital of Karakalpakstan, the birthplace of the Turkic people.
When I first visited Nukus over 20 years ago I went with a Turkish friend who was running a UN programme that gave chickens to women so they could support themselves by selling eggs and at the same time add some protein to their diet. The city was an ecological
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