The move comes amid outrage about the recent incident in which Minsk forced an EU-registered passenger plane to land in the country with the sole goal of arresting a 26-year old independent journalist.

Georgia was also named one of the priority recipients of the Foreign Military Financing programmes, receiving $25 million.

State-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz appointed Svitlana Zalishchuk, a former journalist, to to head its international affairs team.

 Masdar last month won bids to build two solar power plants, each with a capacity of 220 MW, in the central Samarkand and Jizzakh regions.

Since the new government came to power, it has embarked on an ambitious economic reform plan. And that includes the long-ignored tourism sector.

In the Soviet era, such gritty industries were regarded as sacred pieces of the country’s clunky economy.