Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The General Prosecutor’s Office of Switzerland will return an additional US$182 million to Uzbekistan, which was confiscated from Gulnara Karimova.

On 6 February, in Tashkent, the Minister of Justice of Uzbekistan, Akbar Toshkulov, and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Switzerland to Uzbekistan, Konstantin Obolensky, signed an Agreement on the Distribution of Confiscated Assets.

Under the agreement, Uzbekistan will receive approximately US$182 million. These funds were unlawfully acquired by certain citizens of the Republic and were fully confiscated during a criminal case initiated by the General Prosecutor’s Office of Switzerland in 2012 concerning Gulnara Karimova.

The funds will be returned through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund Uzbekistan Vision 2030, established under the United Nations.

It should be noted that earlier, on 16 August 2022, an Agreement was signed in Bern, Switzerland, between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Swiss Confederation on the methods of returning unlawfully acquired assets confiscated on Swiss territory in the interests of the people of Uzbekistan. This document outlines the main principles and mechanisms for the return of assets through the Uzbekistan Vision 2030 fund.

As part of this work, the agreement signed in August 2022 provided for the return of approximately US$131 million. After the signing of the new agreement, the total amount of returned funds in the interests of the citizens of Uzbekistan will reach US$313 million.

The funds returned through the Uzbekistan Vision 2030 fund will be directed toward financing socially significant projects in the fields of healthcare and education.