UZBEKISTAN REACHING WESTWARD.

On September 4 in Tashkent, Karimov and Georgia’s head of state Eduard Shevardnadze conferred about opening a "transport corridor" from Uzbekistan to Georgia, which would include pipelines and overland routes running through Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan plans to use the corridor for bringing its oil, gas, and other commodities to Western markets via Georgia’s Black Sea ports. In return, Georgia would receive energy products. Planned to become operational in 1996, the corridor would bypass Russia, denying it control over the flow of goods. But the two leaders stressed that the project does not harm Russian interests, since the volume of commodities to be shipped from Central Asia is already generating enough business for everyone, Interfax cited them as saying September 5.

Kyrgyz Moving Toward Economic Independence.