The forum on June 10 was personally opened by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyev. Novak spoke later.
The interlocutor of journalists, one of the European diplomats, said that the Russian began by transferring the “fiery greeting” to the forum participants from the illegitimate President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
“As soon as he took his word, political and business representatives from the USA and most EU countries left the hall in protest. I personally saw how representatives of the delegations of the United States, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania got up and left. At least 50 participants expressed such a protest against the participation of a Russian official at the forum,” Ozodlik quotes.
Media notes that initially the moderator of the plenary meeting of the forum in Tashkent was to be the leading American television channel CNN International Richard Quest. But he did not moderate the forum allegedly in protest against the performance of the Russian official.
One of the participants forum suggested that the quest did not know in advance that Novak would perform on the forum.
Ozodlik draws attention to the fact that the Tashkent International Investment Forum is usually broadcast live, but this time a video of the opening ceremony and a plenary meeting at which the Political Demarchs occurred were not published.
“It turns out that Russian officials for the first time since 2022, when the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine began, take part in the Tashkent International Investment Forum,” reporters said.
According to them, two more Russians should also speak at the forum: the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov and his deputy Dmitry Volvach.
