The funds are being allocated to healthcare and education, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan. The report on the use of these funds, the first of its kind, was released alongside a statement from the country's Supreme Court, which refuted rumors that Karimova had been released from prison, according to Ozodlik.
Meanwhile, activists are concerned about the fate of Karimova's confiscated assets in another European country—Belgium. Brussels has stated its intention to return only half of these funds to Tashkent.
Gulnara Karimova "still behind bars"
Uzbek authorities made two announcements regarding Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the late president Islam Karimov, who has been in prison for the past 10 years. Earlier this year, she was transferred from a women's prison in the Zangiata district to an open correctional facility in the same area.
In the past few days, several Uzbek media outlets, citing their sources, reported that the convicted individual had left the facility.
On April 23, the press secretary of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan, Aziz Abidov, denied these reports, emphasizing that the information was "false."
The following day, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Otabek Fozilkarimov, gave the first-ever report on how tens of millions of dollars confiscated from Gulnara Karimova in Switzerland, as part of an investigation against her, are being spent in Uzbekistan.
At a press conference in Almalyk, Tashkent Region, Fozilkarimov announced that US$87 million of the returned funds had been equally distributed between Uzbekistan’s healthcare and education sectors.
Spending on Healthcare and Education
According to the Ministry of Health, the funds were used as follows: 5841 units of modern medical equipment of 23 types were purchased for 231 maternity hospitals across the country; over 11,000 healthcare workers were trained; 29 national protocols and guidelines for providing medical services in maternity hospitals were developed and updated to meet international standards; and plans are in place to supply over 1,400 more units of medical equipment.
In the education sector, US$23.5 million of the US$43.5 million allocated from Karimova’s funds was used to launch a project aimed at improving information technology and educational opportunities. The remaining US$20 million is planned for the modernization of sanitary and hygiene systems in schools.
The frozen assets in Switzerland were transferred to the Ishonch (Trust) Fund, which handles the return of confiscated assets. A bilateral agreement between Switzerland and Uzbekistan regarding the return of Karimova’s assets in the interest of Uzbekistan’s people was signed in Bern in August 2022.
By the end of 2022, Switzerland returned US$95 million to Uzbekistan, with US$87 million allocated for social projects. The fate of the remaining US$8 million remains unclear. In total, US$840 million in assets belonging to Karimova were frozen in Swiss banks at the request of the Uzbek government. As of now, US$313 million, whose origin has been officially recognized as illicit, has been returned.
Gulnara Karimova’s assets in Belgium
Just a day before Uzbekistan's report on the expenditure of the funds returned from Switzerland, two international organizations expressed concern over the fate of Karimova's money in Belgium.
In March this year, the Brussels court ruled to confiscate assets worth US$216 million, which were deemed to have been obtained through crimes related to "corruption and money laundering." These assets, also belonging to Karimova, were frozen in 2014.
It is reported that Belgium has agreed to return only half of the frozen funds to Uzbekistan, while the remaining portion will be directed to its own treasury.
The Uzbek Ministry of Economy and Finance states that negotiations with the Belgian government are ongoing.
