Dec 202009
 

It’s Gulnara’s World. We Only Live In It.

As Mr. Burns once said, ”What good is money if it can’t inspire terror in your fellow man?”

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 21.12.2009 14:53
Call her the Oprah Winfrey of Uzbekistan. (If Oprah Winfrey recorded banal Euro pop and her father was the brutal dictator of a repressive Central Asian nation, that is.)

Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam “Big Papa” Karimov, is a rich woman who has her hands in lots of different projects and investments.

Seems like they’re paying off.

The 37-year-old Harvard-educated Karimova has been included, for the first time, on a list of the top 10 richest women in Switzerland. (She’s already been included on another list, “Foreign Policy’s” list of the World’s Worst Daughters.)

The Swiss magazine “Bilan” published a list on Wednesday of the 300 richest people in the country, with assets of at least 100 million Swiss francs, or about $95 million.

Karimova, who is Uzbekistan’s representative to the UN in Geneva, placed ninth on the women’s list with estimated assets of $570 million to $665 million. No word on where that places her in Uzbekistan itself.

Swiss-based Uzbek journalist Alisher Taksanov tells RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service that Karimova’s estimated wealth is based on data from her official bank accounts. He says her real net worth may be much higher.

Among other sources, Taksanov said Karimova gets money from the Zeromax Group, which is involved in Uzbekistan’s mining, gas, and oil industries.

Her assets also reportedly include bank and investments in Dubai and Geneva, as well as a retail complex, nightclubs, and a holiday resort in Uzbekistan. In March, she created a special jewelry collection for the renowned Swiss company Chopard. She also has her own fashion and interior design brand, Guli.

Farkhod Inogombaev, Karimova’s former financial adviser, tells RFE/RL that she is slowly establishing her name and position among Europe’s financial elite.

Some believe Karimova’s father is grooming her to succeed him as president.

No word yet on the status of Gulnara’s Book Club.

— Grant Podelco

Comments
by: Senjo
January 06, 2010 00:12
I hope those with a conscience who can afford Chopard will boycott this jewelry line, while I suspect rich Russians will in fact pursue it as a partiotic act of supporting their sphere of influence. The greed is obscene. And Harvard should be ashamed. I’d love to see her test scores. A prodigy of the Uzbek educational system?

by: masha from: US
December 22, 2009 15:41
Harvard’s Davis Center should be ashamed for letting Gulnara buy a degree from them. But all they care about is prestige…even if it comes from a brutal dictator. Now she touts her Harvard degree as a qualification for rule.

by: Turgai from: Eurasia
December 21, 2009 09:24
Karimov senior is a thug but at least everyone knows that; things are clear in his case. As for her, she is far worse for she is basically a spit in the face of the people of Uzbekistan. Lowest of all of course are the Europeans and other Westerners who collaborate with and thus legitimate the Tashkent regime.

by: MM from: Paris
December 20, 2009 15:58
Corrections to your article:

1. Karimova is NOT among 10 richest ppl in Switzerland;
2. She is not the 9th richest person BUT she is the 9th richest woman in Switzerland.

In general, I find the whole thing obscene. My heart bleeds to see those kids slaving in the cotton fields, and some vane bimbo hanging out with ppl, who in secret make fun of her. I wish she could spend all those dirty proceeds for a bigger cause.


by: Moderator
December 21, 2009 13:53
Thanks for your correction, MM. Will fix in the text. Sorry for the error.

by: Makhatjan
December 18, 2009 18:01
It’s good to be the king. It is also good to be the daughter of the king.

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