Russia’s President Putin heads to Uzbekistan as succession issue looms

By bne IntelliNews September 6, 2016

Russia's President Vladimir Putin will visit Uzbekistan on September 6  to honour the memory of President Islam Karimov, who died last week after suffering a stroke.

As Uzbekistan is either in the process of picking Karimov’s successor or has already settled on one, the arrival of Putin could solidify the choice of the Uzbek elites. The approval of Moscow has always played an important role in consolidating leadership in Central Asian countries. As such, it is important to see whom Putin will meet to give a clue on who will be the most likely successor of Karimov.

Addressing a news conference at the G20 summit in China, Putin said he hoped the Central Asian country’s new leadership would be able to preserve stability. “One can make different judgments about what he did for his country, one can view various moments in Uzbekistan's modern history differently, but he preserved stability in the country, he preserved its steady development,” Putin said, according to InterFax.

“New people will come ... I hope very much that they will be able to preserve this stability. For a country like Uzbekistan, it's extremely important, it's just indispensable for its self-preservation and further steady development.”

Karimov, who died aged 79, stood at the helm of the country for a quarter of century. His funeral took place on September 3.

Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Evolution Equity Partners closes $125mn cybersecurity-focused fund

Evolution Equity Partners announced on 17 July the final closing of a new fund with total capital commitments of $125mn to make investments in cybersecurity and next generation enterprise software ... more

Uzbekistan allows all commercial banks to trade national currency at market rate

Uzbekistan has now granted permission to commercial banks in the country to trade the Uzbek national currency at the market rate, Uzbek state-run UzDaily news agency reported on July 10. ... ... more

Pay your utility bills or no hajj, Uzbeks reportedly warned by cleric

The chief imam in Tashkent, Anvar-qori Tursunov, has warned would-be Uzbek pilgrims to Mecca that they will be prevented from departing for the hajj pilgrimage if they do not ... more

Most Read

  1. Wildfires hit Croatia and Montenegro’s Adriatic coast
    6 days ago
  2. Tajik president’s 23-year old daughter appointed deputy head of largest Tajik bank
    4 days ago
  3. Bosnia’s ruling coalition collapses
    2 days ago
  4. Siemens considers quitting Russia
    10 days ago
  5. FINTECH: A Russian fintech revolution is coming
    10 days ago
  1. CHINA RISING: When sleeping giants meet
    13 days ago
  2. Belarus’ retail king Euroopt goes on the road
    19 days ago
  3. STOLYPIN: Russia’s cyber-challenge cuts both ways
    21 days ago
  4. Siemens considers quitting Russia
    10 days ago
  5. COMMENT: Gazprom’s exit from Turkey is a sign of the times
    11 days ago

Selected articles from our premium news/views wire IntelliNews Pro

Login to IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Reports

Dismiss