Uzbekistan to receive $182 million in assets seized from Gulnara Karimova

On February 6, in Tashkent, the Minister of Justice of Uzbekistan, Akbar Tashkulov, and the Swiss Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Konstantin Obolensky, signed an agreement on the distribution of confiscated property, the Uzbek Ministry of Justice reported.

“Under the agreement, about $182 million will be returned to Uzbekistan. These funds were illegally acquired by certain citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan and were fully confiscated in 2012 as part of a criminal case initiated by the Swiss prosecutor’s office against G. Karimova,” the statement said.

The funds will be returned through the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Uzbekistan Vision 2030.

Earlier, on August 16, 2022, an agreement was signed in Bern between Uzbekistan and Switzerland on methods for returning illegally acquired property confiscated in Switzerland for the benefit of the people of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This agreement defines the mechanism for returning illegal assets to Uzbekistan through the UN trust fund Uzbekistan Vision 2030, as well as basic principles and objectives.

The first agreement, signed in August 2022, provides for the return of about $131 million to Uzbekistan. After the signing of the new agreement, the total amount of funds returned for the benefit of the people of Uzbekistan will reach $313 million.

The funds returned through Uzbekistan Vision 2030 will be used to implement socially important projects for the benefit of the people of Uzbekistan, in particular in the fields of health and education. Information about the fund and its projects is publicly available on the fund’s website in Uzbek and English.

As a reminder, Switzerland confiscated $370 million in assets from Gulnara Karimova.