US-linked Businesses Come Under Pressure

The temporary suspension of the services of Uzbekistan’s third-largest mobile phone company may be part of a continuing campaign against American presence in the country, say political observers.



The Uzbekistan Communications and Information Agency has revoked the operating license of Coscom, a leading mobile phone operator with around 400,000 users, for ten days.



The agency say it acted mainly because Coscom failed to inform them of a connection disruption that lasted for two hours on January 30.



Local observers say that the more likely cause was the 85 per cent of Coscom shares that are owned by the American MCT Corporation.



“This temporary suspension of Coscom’s licence is a logical continuation of pressure exerted on American companies or companies close to them,” said Tashkent-based political analyst Tashpulat Uldashev.



He pointed to the recent closure of the American-Uzbek gold-mining company Zarafshan-Newmont and the expulsion of US funded international nongovernmental organisations, such as Counterpart International, Partnership in Academics and Development and Freedom House, all of which were shut down last year.



The campaign against Coscom started last year when it was accused of tax evasion and fraud, says Vladimir Nikitin NBCentralAsia observer based in Tashkent. Nikitin says Uzbekistan’s anti-American stance is influenced by its allegiance to Russian rivals.



“Probably someone in power who lobbies for the interests of competing Russian mobile companies is interested in revoking Coscom’s license because it has quite a good share of the market,” he said.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)