Ferghana.Ru sources close to the government of Uzbekistan report a serious staff shuffle in the upper echelons of state power. What amounts to demotion of former Deputy Premier Rustam Azimov (in charge of the whole economic bloc once, he became minister of foreign economic contacts, investments, and commerce) is the central event of the last several days. And not the only noteworthy one.

Official announcements have not been made yet, but the Prosecutor General's Office instituted proceedings against several senior state officials. All of them have to do, directly or not, with national economy - Shakhlo Abdullayeva (senior deputy minister of foreign economic contacts), Bakhtijar Khusanbayev (chairman of Uzbekturism), and E. Mirkhodzhayev, former chairman National Bank who resigned of his own volition in early July. There are the rumors that Khusanbayev and Mirkhodzhayev are already on the run.

There is no information on charges at this point. As local observers assumed, however, the events in Andizhan officially ascribed to international terrorism were actually sparked by the population's disappointment with the economic policy of the state. They had to result in at least a partial revision of the policy in question.

Several presidential decrees signed in early June were taken by Uzbek businesses as revolutionary. Staff changes that follow the decrees may serve as an indication of seriousness of the political leadership of the country. On the other hand, they may actually be a smoke-screen (several scapegoats are found to pin the blame on, but no radical changes are intended).