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SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2016
TAGS: KCRM PGOV ECON PREL PINR UZ
SUBJECT: (S) MAFIA BOSS FIXES GOU TENDERS AND JOBS

REF: TASHKENT 465

TASHKENT 00000902 001.2 OF 002

Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)

¶1. (S) Summary: A well connected Embassy contact described a  mafia chieftain’s role in helping businessmen to secure GOU  tenders and job applicants to “buy” government jobs. Crime  boss Salim Abduvaliyev puts bidders for tenders in touch with  an Iranian businessman holding British citizenship, who  submits the paperwork to First Daughter Gulnora Karimova for  approval. Salim works with the Deputy Minister of Internal  Affairs responsible for personnel issues to arrange  government jobs, agreeing on a price and then adding his own  fee before selling the position. Salim has reportedly sold a  wide range of Government positions, including regional Hokim,  police chief, and Ministry of Internal Affairs jobs. A  Presidential Adviser and a former Minister of the Interior  also reportedly worked closely with Salim on job placement  transactions. End summary.

¶2. (S) An Embassy contact with close connections to the  families of senior GOU officials, and distantly related to  mafia chieftain Salim Abduvaliyev (reftel), told Poloff that  Salim often serves as a middleman in fixing GOU tenders and  helping applicants obtain government jobs. Foreign investors  can “win” GOU tenders by arranging them through Salim, who  charges a percentage of revenues as a fee. Many job  applicants have approached the contact, a close friend of  Salim’s wife, Shahlo, asking for introductions to Salim in  order to “purchase” a GOU job. (Note: Both public and  private sector jobs are routinely “bought” in Uzbekistan.  End note.)

CONTRACT AND TENDER GRAFT  ————————-

¶3. (S) According to the contact, Salim locates foreign and  other investors interested in GOU tenders, putting them in  touch with an Iranian businessman holding British  citizenship. The Iranian prepares the paperwork, submitting  the tender to First Daughter Gulnora Karimova for approval.  (Note: According to the contact, former Deputy PM Dilbar  Gulomova’s son works for this Iranian. End note.) Tenders  arranged through this process reportedly include the Dutch  Gemka (ph) firm’s railway investment in Bukhara, which  required paying Salim a $700,000 fee, a Swiss/Israeli  company’s water project in the Tashkent region, and a Korean  company’s large-scale contract to provide computers to  schools.

GOU JOBS FOR SALE!  ——————

¶4. (S) A man named “Abror hoja” brings job applicants to  Salim, who discusses the price of the purchase and  facilitates the transaction. The contact said that Salim has  sold a wide range of government positions, including regional  Hokim, regional police chief, and high and mid-ranking jobs  at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Salim works closely  with Tursinkhan Hudaibergenov, Deputy Minister of Internal  Affairs for personnel issues, to facilitate GOU job  placements. Salim agrees on a price with Hudaibergenov,  before adding his own fee, and selling the position at the  higher price. (Note: The contact said that Salim closely  cooperated in the past on such job purchase transactions with  State Adviser to the President Ismail Jurabekov, and former  Minister of Interior Zokir Almatov. End note.)

¶5. (S) In one example of Salim’s sway over GOU personnel  decisions, a regional mayor appealed to him for help  retaining his job after he came under pressure to resign.  The wife of Maksim Teshebaev, the mayor of Tashkent’s  region’s Orta Chirchik district, approached Salim’s wife  asking for Salim’s support. For the right price, Salim  promised that Teshebaev would be able to retain his job.  According to the contact, Salim instructed Teshebaev to make  a payment to his brother, Azamjon Abduvaliyev, in order to  retain the job. But after the payment was made, Salim  reportedly mocked the amount of money Teshebaev offered, saying he “couldn’t eat a meal” for that amount.

¶6. (S) Comment: Salim’s role in securing GOU tenders and jobs  sheds further light on the close connections between  organized crime and the GOU (reftel). Corruption is rampant  in the GOU. Tenders and government positions can be fairly  easily secured by paying the right amount of money to the  appropriate individual, leading to a situation in which  unqualified individuals have every incentive to engage in  further corrupt activity to pay off the large debts they  usually incur making down payments on the jobs.

PURNELL

XTAGS: XTAGKCRM, XTAGPGOV, XTAGECON, XTAGPREL, XTAGPINR, XTAGUZ 06TASHKENT902