Improvements to Uzbekistan’s election law and greater acceptance of freedom of expression are to be welcomed, but did not offset the absence of opposition parties, a continuing lack of respect for fundamental rights, and some serious irregularities on election day, international observers to the parliamentary elections said in a preliminary statement published yesterday.

Uz-Autotrans Service, a state owned company, on Monday launched a regular bus service to Moscow. "We launched the first service today. We hope that on the New Year's Eve, we will get a good load," an Uzavtotrans Service official said.

The first compensation certificate in Uzbekistan was awarded by the authorities for building a hotel. The company which built the 3-star Grand Hotel Sogdiana hotel was awarded the 4,080,000,000 soums worth certificate. The hotel has 102 rooms.

UzAuto Motors will unveil four new Chevrolet models on December 25б the company said in a statement. “Through the use of advanced technologies and attractive design, these models will exceed all expectations and will surprise even the most sophisticated” the statement said.

The chief off the CIS observer mission, the chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, Sergey Lebedev recognized the Uzbekistan parliamentary and municipal elections on Sunday as “free, transparent and competitive" at a press conference yesterday.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hosted the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA), George Tsereteli.

Some time at the beginning of the next year, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo will visit Uzbekistan, a source in the government told the Tashkent Times.

Japan on Thursday pledged a total of 187.9 billion yen ($1.7 billion) in loans to Uzbekistan to help boost its power generation and exports of horticultural products.

According to the provisional data, deputies to the Legislative Chamber were elected in 128 out of 150 constituencies. Yestreday were announced the preliminary results of the elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.

Uzbekistan Railways plans to launch transit trains to Azerbaijan and Georgia before spring 2020, it was announced in Tashkent at a meeting on the development of an international multimodal route between the railway authorities of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

Voter turnout in the elections of deputies of the Legislative Chamber and local councils on Sunday, was 71.1% according to provisional data, announced the chairman of the Central Election Commission Mirzo-Ulugbek Abdusalomov.

Ilkhom Nematov, First Deputy Foreign Minister replying to a question on Uzbekistan's possible accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), said that imposing of harsher phytosanitary requirements and the closure by Kyrgyzstan of access to Uzbekistan’s Sokh exclave two days after it was opened was not the form of pressure on Uzbekistan to join the EAEU.

UzLITIneftegaz design company, a Uzbekneftegaz subsidiary, and the South Korean companies Daesan NDE and Samyoung Material Inspection Technology have set up a non-destructive testing laboratory that can detect defects in pipelines in the Uzbekistan’s oil and gas sector, Uzbekneftegaz said.

The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev today met with the Japanese Emperor Naruhito, the presidential press service said in a statement

On December 20, the Director of the OSCE/ODIHR, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir arrived in Uzbekistan to observe the upcoming parliamentary and municipal elections on December 22.

On December 20, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will attend the informal meeting of the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in St. Petersburg, the presidential press service said.

On December 19, First Deputy Foreign Minister, Ilkhom Nematov hosted the visiting Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture/Trade Representative of Ukraine, Taras Kachka, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his official visit to Tokyo on December 19, the presidential press service said.

An agreement was signed between the National Project Management Agency (NPMA) under the President of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Security and Public Administration of the Republic of Korea on the establishment of Uzbek-Korean E-government and Digital Economy Cooperation Center In Sejong (Republic of Korea) Tuesday.

According to unconfirmed date, Uzbekistan authorities are planning to toughen punishments for people using the Internet to organize or call for unsanctioned rallies, according to a source close to the Uzbek government.