24 Apr , 13:24
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Uzbekistan received 95 million dollars from Gulnara Karimova's Swiss assets
The state treasury of Uzbekistan has received 95 million dollars – funds confiscated by Swiss authorities from Gulnara Karimova, daughter of former president Islam Karimov.
As reported at a briefing by Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Otabek Fozilkarimov, according to TUT.AZ, this is part of an agreement between the countries to return 131 million dollars.
Most of the funds already received – 87 million dollars – have been directed toward the development of the republic's social sphere.
"This money is already working for the benefit of the people of Uzbekistan, financing the construction of new schools and hospitals in regions where there have been no serious investments in social infrastructure for decades," emphasized Fozilkarimov.
The ministry representative also spoke about negotiations with Belgium regarding the return of another 108 million dollars. "Work is being conducted actively, and we expect a positive result. We will provide additional information on this matter in the near future," he noted.
Earlier, the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan reported signing an agreement with the Swiss ambassador on the distribution of Karimova's confiscated assets amounting to approximately 182 million dollars.
The funds are being returned through a specially created UN trust fund, Uzbekistan Vision 2030. Including the previous agreement, the total amount of assets being returned will reach 313 million dollars.
The returned funds are directed toward socially significant projects in healthcare and education. Information about the Fund is available on the official website in Uzbek and English.
Gulnara Karimova, once an influential figure in Central Asia, was convicted in 2015 of extortion and tax evasion. In 2017, she was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, and in 2020, her sentence was increased to 13 years and four months on new charges of creating a criminal organization.
International investigations revealed that Karimova created a complex system of corruption schemes through which telecommunications companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars for access to the Uzbekistan market.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan is working with the USA, Switzerland, France, Russia, and Latvia on the return of Karimova's proceeds amounting to more than 1.3 billion dollars.
In 2017, the US Treasury Department added Karimova to the sanctions list under the "Global Magnitsky Act" for leading a "powerful organized crime syndicate."
