S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000902 SIPDIS 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,
XXXXX, 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, XXXXX, 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,
TASHKENT 00000902 002.2 OF 002 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
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