Postcard from Bishkek

A few years ago I was asked to be a visiting speaker at a class in the American University of Central Asia, (AUCA). The class was part of a course on Business Studies and was titled Business Ethics. At first I was reluctant to agree, because I thought they’ll want to hear about bribery and corruption […]

Tuesday saw the monthly open meeting of the International Business Council, (IBC).  This onbe was sponsored by the OSCE, (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), office in Bishkek and was entitled “Fighting Corruption: Importance of Preventive Measures”. As well as opening speeches from the Chairman of IBC, the Ambassador of the OSCE to Kyrgyzstan […]

Yesterday, December 9th, was designated by the United Nations as “International Anti-corruption Day”, as long ago as in October, 2003, when it passed the United Nations Convention against Corruption. I don’t think it has been well advertised and, to be honest, I almost missed it this year.  The first I knew was when I saw […]

I had slept right through it.  Whilst others had apparently been cowering with fright at the howling winds, I had been safely tucked up in bed, sleeping like a baby.  I had even missed Michael Fish’s famous unfortunate “blunder”: Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a […]

This week saw revelations in a Sunday newspaper about a “Sting” operation, where a journalist pretended to be an international businessman and recorded the Duchess of York “selling access” to her former husband, Prince Andrew – who has a sort of “roving ambassador” for British Trade and Industry.  For some five hundred thousand pounds, it […]

This page was written in 2005, and arose out of a disputed tax inspection … we appealed to the courts against the inspector’s judgment and at that time the court case described here was still proceeding.