Gold production rose 1.1 percent year-on-year to 2,058 kg in January-July, while production of silver rose by 12.6 percent to 2,786 kg.

Although the city of Turkestan was always a popular destination for internal tourism, it was more widely associated with pilgrimage, not entertainment. The city is one of the most ancient settlements within the borders of what is modern Kazakhstan.

Fitch forecasts Ukraine's GDP growth of 4.1 percent this year, helped by a pick-up in agriculture and 12.9 percent real wage growth year-on-year in June, with short lockdowns in January and April subtracting an estimated 0.6 percentage points from annual growth.

Uzbekistan ranked 146 out of 180 countries and territories in the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International, well below its neighbour and closes trade partner Kazakhstan, which ranked 94.

Trade between Moldova and the "separatist" area is robust. Transnistria is even part of Moldova's Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the European Union, something unheard of in other "breakaway" ex-Soviet entities.

Lead-managers of the syndication were Citi Bank and JP Morgan. The funds were provided for five years under SOCAR's guarantee at LIBOR/EURIBOR + 3.45 percent.

The resource-rich Central Asian nation of 34 million had been led by Mirziyoyev, who took over in late 2016 following the death of veteran leader Islam Karimov, who had run Uzbekistan with an iron fist for 27 years.