| Gulnara Karimova Гульнара Каримова |
|
|---|---|
| Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Kingdom of Spain |
|
| In office 2008/2010 – present |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 8, 1972 Fergana, Uzbekistan |
| Alma mater | Tashkent State University Harvard University |
| Website | http://gulnarakarimova.com/en/ |
Gulnara Islomovna Karimova (Russian: Гульнара Исламовна Каримова) (born July 8, 1972, Fergana) is an Uzbek businesswoman, fashion designer, singer and diplomat. She is the eldest daughter of the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.
Contents |
Karimova graduated from Tashkent State University in 1996, majoring in economics. She then earned a Master of Arts in regional studies at Harvard University, and received a Doctoral degree in political science from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent where she is holding the chair of professor of political science since 2009. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in telecommunications from Tashkent University of Informational Technologies, and has completed a course of jewellery design in New York Fashion Institute of Technology in 1992.[1]
In 1991, Karimova married Mansur Maqsudi, an American businessman of Afghan origin. They have two children, a son Islam, born in 1992 and a daughter Iman, born in 1998. When the marriage started to break in July 2001, Karimova took the two children and left the United States for Uzbekistan. An Uzbek judge granted her a divorce, while a New Jersey jurist granted one to Maqsudi.[2] In return, Maqsudi faced arrest in Uzbekistan, and some of his relatives were arrested and thrown into prison, others were driven to the Uzbek-Afghan border and dumped on the other side,[3] and Maqsudi had his business assets in Uzbekistan, particularly his interest in a joint-venture with Coca-Cola, stripped from him.[4] According to the Guardian, Karimova kept $4.5 million worth of jewellery and business interests worth approximately $60 million, as part of her divorce settlement.[5] On July 9, 2008, custody of the two children was fully given to Karimova, by a Consent Order signed by Judge Deanne M. Wilson (Superior Court of the State of New Jersey).
In 2003, when Sodiq Safoyev was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, allegations about his marriage with Karimova surfaced in local and international media. Safoyev, a career diplomat and a divorcee as of 2001 was suspected to have been picked by the President Islam Karimov as his possible replacement, hence the marriage with his daughter.[6] However, the allegations were refuted and fact of marriage was denied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and BBC which published the story was accused by then the First Deputy Minister Vladimir Norov as an intrusion in personal lives of Safoyev and Karimova.[7]
Karimova currently lives in Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland, where she bought a CHF 18.2 million house in January 2009.[8]
In 1998 and from 2000 to 2003 Karimova served as counselor at Uzbekistan’s Mission to the United Nations in New York.[1] From 2003 till 2005 she was minister-counselor at the Uzbek embassy in Moscow, and served as adviser to the minister of foreign affairs from 2005 to 2008. In February 2008 she was appointed deputy foreign minister for international cooperation in cultural and humanitarian affairs. In September of the same year she became Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva. In January 2010, she was named Uzbek Ambassador in Spain.[9] She is a member of the Cercle Diplomatique de Genève.[10]
According to US diplomats in Uzbekistan, Karimova "bullied her way into gaining a slice of virtually every lucrative business" in the country and is viewed as a "robber baron".[11] Granted diplomatic status by her father, Gulnara lives much of the time in Geneva, where her holding company, Zeromax, is registered. Gulnara denies claims that she owns Zeromax.[11] And no evidence is still available to confirm that she actually owned that Company or had any connection to it. Karimova was claimed to control Uzdunrobita, Uzbekistan's national mobile telephone network, as well as the country's healthcare, and media sectors.[12] However since June 2007 Uzdunrobita’s 100% stake belongs to Mobile Telesystems OJSC (“MTS” - NYSE: MBT), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS.[13] It is said that she has financial interests worth $600 million[14] in retail, nightclubs, and tourism which is denied by Gulnora who attributes these belongings to her family members and friends [15] In December 2009, the Swiss magazine "Bilanz" in its list of the richest people in Switzerland assessed Gulnora Karimova to be one of the ten richest women in the country.[12]
In 2009, Brazilian football manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was appointed at FC Bunyodkor, a Tashkent footballteam set up in 2005 believed to be part of the business empire run by Karimova. Scolari reportedly was paid around £12 million per year, the highest pay for a football manager in the world, but left after less than a year. The club also signed the Brazilian Rivaldo.[16]
Karimova formed and established a think tank in Central Asia - the Center for Political Studies with partnership from more than 25 institutions worldwide.[17]
Under Karimova's supervision five NGO have been established in the country. In 2009, two of the Foundations, Social Initiatives Support Fund (SISF) and Women's Council Public Association, organized a conference on "Medical aspects and role of Public Organizations in breast cancer problems solutions".[18] Starting from 2006 through the SISF Karimova apparently implements a scheme of micro-credits for women farmers in rural areas of Uzbekistan.[19]
Karimova is also leading a social organisation called Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan Foundation (the Fund Forum).[20] It supports children with educational grants,[21] and in June 2010 the Fund Forum and other foundations engaged in humanitarian aid to those affected by the events in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.[22]
On December 24, 2010, the International Olympic Committee honored the Fund Forum with its annual “Sport – Inspiring Young People” Trophy for its activities in the area of sport, education and culture among the youth.[23]
Yangi Avlod Festival supports children in fine arts disciplines. Also in 2009 the news have spread internationally that two of the worlds' most famous football strikers Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to support Gulnara Karimova's new initiative launching 'Young footballers support program'.[24] Both of the players evidently have signed Memorandums of cooperation with the Fund Forum.[25]
Sting performed in Uzbekistan in 2009, giving his concert as part of the annual Art Week Style.Uz[26] project initiated in 2006 by Karimova.[27] Earlier, he had participated in an Yangi Avlod-arranged event Festival.[20] After his concert, several commentators accused him of hypocrisy for playing in that country and supporting Karimova.[28] The singer justified his action in an October 2010 interview,[29] saying that there is no cultural embargo on Uzbekistan and "... If this should happen, Uzbek community would become more paranoid, more aggressive towards us (i.e. western people). Arts , journalism, enterprises, circulation of ideas – and I personally believe in the power of music – are all matters that do well/are helpful to totalitarian regimes. Regarding Karimova, she is much more sensitive to culture. So why not? Let’s keep the doors open."[29] In addition to this, the role of British diplomacy in general and this matter are discussed in an article by Eurasianet.org,[30] and Sting's quote was discussed in The New Yorker magazine by editor Amy Davidson.[31]
In 2006, Karimova released her first music video singing a song called “Unutma Meni” (Don't Forget Me) under the stage name “GooGoosha”, apparently her father′s nickname for her. According to commentators, the video was part of a campaign to promote her popularity in Uzbekistan.[5] She also performed in a later music video, singing a duet of “Besame Mucho” with Julio Iglesias.[32]
In March 2009 Karimova presented her own special jewelry collection “GULI for Chopard” designed for renowned Swiss company Chopard.[33] Reportedly her royalty for design from sales of the collection will go to 'Yangi Avlod' (New Generation) Children Festival development.[34][35]
In September 2010, Karimova presented her fashion line “Guli” featuring Uzbek fabrics and designs based on the traditional Uzbek long coat at New York′s Fashion Week.[36]
In September 2011, Karimova′s planned spring 2012 fashion show at New York’s Fashion Week was rescheduled and relocated[37] after Human Rights Watch and other organizations had drawn attention to her connection to her father’s government and its record on torture, and child and forced labour. According to Human Rights Watch, up to two million Uzbek children are forced to leave school each year for two months to pick cotton – a fabric woven throughout Karimova’s designs.[38]
Dispatches from the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan, released in December 2010 on the Wikileaks website, describe the ex-Soviet republic as "a nightmarish world of rampant corruption, organised crime, forced labour in the cotton fields, and torture"; many of the dispatches focus on the behaviour of "Karimov's glamorous and highly controversial daughter Gulnara", who is bluntly described in the cables as "the single most hated person in the country".[39]
Karimova acquired interests in the crude oil contracts of Zeromax in "a deal with [a] local mafia boss", the embassy said. She also got hold of shares in the Coca-Cola bottling franchise after it was subjected to a tax investigation, they claimed.[40]