A U.S. political strategist says an Uzbek businessman requested him to foyer for sanctions towards an enormous cement producer owned by a political and enterprise rival over the enterprise’s alleged Russia hyperlinks.
Stephen Payne, a prime associate in Texas lobbying agency Linden Methods, says that at his Uzbek consumer’s behest, he briefed Congressman Wesley Hunt, a Texas Republican, final yr about attainable sanctions violations by the Uzbek cement firm, referred to as the United Cement Group.
Payne, a one-time aide to former President George W. Bush, mentioned he and his workers didn’t urge any particular motion, however left it to Hunt and his workers to determine what to do with the data.
In remarks on the Home flooring in March 2024, Rep. Hunt expressed concern that U.S. concentrate on “Russian belongings” in Europe had “ignored belongings and brokers in former Soviet republics resembling Uzbekistan” — after which particularly talked about the Cyprus-registered cement firm with out elaborating.
Hunt would additionally write to the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions unit for a “formal inquiry” into “potential violations” of U.S. Russia sanctions by the Uzbek cement firm, in response to paperwork seen by the Worldwide Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Due to UCG’s alleged Russia hyperlinks, Hunt expressed concern about UCG’s 2022 acquisition of a state-owned cement plant in Uzbekistan. Just a few days later, Payne made a $3,300 donation to Hunt’s marketing campaign.
A spokesperson for UCG’s proprietor, distinguished Uzbek businessman Ulugbek Shadmanov, mentioned the U.S. Treasury performed a “mild investigation” of the corporate for sanctions violations after Hunt’s remarks, however it “concluded with none allegation of Russian involvement.”
Linden Methods was appearing on behalf of Uktam Aripov, a little-known Canada-based entrepreneur who, Payne alleges, was in search of to persuade the U.S. to sanction UCG, Central Asia’s greatest cement producer.
The lobbying marketing campaign gives a window onto the world of sanctions lobbying — a bustling cottage trade in Washington for the reason that 2022 Ukraine invasion prompted a spike in U.S. and different Western sanctions towards corporations and people seen as aiding Russia’s conflict effort.
Usually, political technique and legislation corporations foyer lawmakers and different officers to push regulators, together with the U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Property Management, to take away somebody already on a sanctions record, or stop their shoppers from being listed. The foyer corporations generally conduct publicity campaigns in assist of their efforts.
But lobbying for sanctions or official condemnations towards rivals has turn into an more and more well-liked software particularly for enterprise actors throughout Eurasia.
In December, the Monetary Occasions revealed {that a} newly sanctioned Dutch oil dealer alleges a former enterprise associate was liable for EU sanctions towards him, which the associate denied. In 2023, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Undertaking confirmed how a non-public intelligence agency working for a U.S. healthcare firm allegedly fed questions on a rival being an alleged Russian agent to a British MP. In January, The Diplomat reported that an Uzbek businessman had been detained in Tashkent final yr after allegedly refusing to push for U.S. sanctions towards two high-ranking public officers.
In an interview with ICIJ, Payne, the Linden associate, mentioned that Aripov, the entrepreneur, had employed his agency to “go after United Cement,” together with with sanctions strain. Aripov’s firm paid Linden $25,000, in response to lobbying filings.
In a collection of emails to ICIJ, Aripov mentioned he was “not a facet of battle” with UCG and Shadmanov and denied asking Payne to foyer for sanctions towards UCG. He mentioned the assertion might be simply confirmed false with paperwork, however declined to supply them.
Aripov mentioned his relationship with Payne soured over a enterprise dispute.
Payne acknowledges having a earlier enterprise relationship with Aripov and having ended it, however denies it ended due to a enterprise dispute. He declined to elaborate.
Household feud
Uzbekistan’s political scene has been roiled in latest months by a string of anonymously sourced media experiences of an alleged feud between highly effective relations of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Analysts and information experiences have recommended a battle between Mirziyoyev’s eldest daughter and adviser, Saida Mirziyoyeva, and a son-in-law, Otabek Umarov, who till just lately was deputy head of the nation’s Presidential Safety Service.
The title Shadmanov, UCG’s proprietor, hit headlines this month after he was detained in a raid by safety forces at his house in Dubai and extradited to Uzbekistan. Uzbek authorities have declined to say why they sought Shadmanov’s extradition.
“Ulugbek Shadmanov is the sufferer of a blatant political prosecution by authorities in Uzbekistan,” mentioned his lawyer Marc Agnifilo.
The Shadmanov spokesperson instructed ICIJ that Aripov had approached Shadmanov about potential enterprise tasks in 2023 however the interplay later devolved right into a dispute.
In accordance with RFE/RL and The Diplomat, Shadmanov is allegedly an ally of President Mirziyoyev’s son-in-law, Umarov. The spokesperson for Shadmanov mentioned he “doesn’t have a enterprise or private relationship with Otabek Umarov” in a remark to ICIJ.
Payne additionally says Shadmanov and Aripov are enterprise rivals.
‘Uzbek spring’
In Uzbekistan, a 36-million-strong nation located within the coronary heart of Central Asia between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, the U.S. is usually referred to the nation’s “sixth neighbour” — a reference to the U.S.’s essential financial and safety assist for Uzbekistan within the 2000s. The connection later faltered after then-President Islam Karimov orchestrated a home crackdown and shut down a U.S. airbase.
Since coming to energy in 2016, President Mirziyoyev has sought to finish the nation’s worldwide isolation, and enhance relations with the U.S.
Uzbekistan has spent thousands and thousands of {dollars} on high-powered D.C. lobbying and consulting corporations to draw U.S. traders.
And U.S. traders have taken an curiosity in Mirziyoyev’s “Uzbek spring.” Former Vitality Secretary Rick Perry, former CIA chief Mike Pompeo and a former prime State Division official, Tom Shannon, for example, function advisers to Gor Funding, an Uzbekistan-focused funding agency primarily based in London and Tashkent.
Sanctions frenzy
A quick biography of Aripov on the web site of a Latvian-registered firm he owns referred to as Euro Luxe Buying and selling, says he started his profession in worldwide enterprise in 1993, together with roles as an official nation guide for Motorola and the U.S. protection and IT large Harris Corp. in Uzbekistan. The webpage on Aripov has since turn into inaccessible after ICIJ made contact with him.
Payne, who additionally runs vitality firm Linden Vitality, mentioned he met Aripov again in 2011 whereas Payne served as honorary consul — a kind of quasi diplomat or consultant — to Texas on behalf of the Baltic state of Latvia.
Amid the sanctions frenzy following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. started accusing Uzbek firms of breaking sanctions on Russia by supplying key elements to the Russian military-industrial advanced.
In January 2024, information present, Euro Luxe contracted with Linden Methods to foyer on “points referring to honest enterprise practices in Uzbekistan” within the Home of Representatives.
Payne instructed ICIJ that Linden Methods “didn’t particularly register” to push for sanctions strain towards UCG on behalf of Aripov. Nevertheless, he mentioned, pushing for such sanctions towards UCG did “fall beneath our registration parameters,” the disclosed causes for hiring a lobbyist.
Linden Methods contacted Rep. Hunt on behalf of Aripov about UCG.
In remarks within the Home of Representatives on March 15 final yr, Hunt stood and inquired about “a attainable and deliberate violation of U.S. imposed sanctions” by UCG.
“Because the conflict in Ukraine carries on and as Russian sanctions are imposed, I fear that our concentrate on Russian belongings and brokers in Europe has ignored belongings and brokers in former Soviet republics resembling Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan,” Hunt mentioned.
He mentioned UCG’s 2022 privatization deal was “opaque” and got here at a “vital low cost,” including, “We’re seeing monopolization beneath the guise of privatization, to the good thing about Russia.”
On March 19, in response to U.S. Federal Election Fee information, Payne made his $3,300 donation to Hunt’s marketing campaign for re-election. The donation was recorded in Linden Methods’ lobbying disclosure submitting.
Payne mentioned the donation and Hunt’s remarks had been unconnected.
“I’ve contributed the utmost allowed quantity to Congressman Hunt since his first marketing campaign in 2021,” Payne mentioned. “I’ve held a number of fundraisers for [Hunt], and we now have attended social occasions with each other and our wives.”
Hunt didn’t reply to ICIJ’s requests for remark
Payne mentioned the lobbying parameters of his contract with Euro Luxe additionally included Linden Methods writing to Uzbek president Mirziyoyev in April to tell him that the Workplace of International Property Management had been directed to analyze UCG, “’which undoubtedly harms the picture of Uzbekistan”.
That letter to President Mirziyoyev referenced “discussions” in U.S. Congress on UCG because the supply of the directive to analyze UCG for attainable sanctions violations.
The declare that UCG was collaborating with Russia to bypass U.S. sanctions is “logistically implausible”, mentioned the Shadmanov spokesperson. “Cement manufacturing and distribution economics make such allegations technically unattainable,” they mentioned.
Payne instructed ICIJ he had ended the $25,000 contract with Aripov. Linden Methods’s Euro Luxe contract ended on April 1, 2024, in response to lobbying filings.
Payne mentioned he additionally “rescinded” Linden Methods’s letter to President Mirziyoyev warning about UCG in August 2024, citing “inner disagreements” and different elements in feedback to ICIJ.
Aripov didn’t reply to an emailed query from ICIJ about whether or not he had instructed Payne to foyer for sanctions towards Shadmanov’s agency.
The U.S. Treasury didn’t reply to requests for remark about whether or not it had performed any inquiries into UCG.
