Citizens of Uzbekistan encounter problems trying to receive the money transacted from abroad.

"We've been trying to get what is due us for over two days now," Hossijat Mukimova of the Uichi district (Namangan region) said. "So far as we know, our law enforcement agencies grew suspicious that too many people are getting substantial sums from abroad now. They scrutinize every transaction..."

There is a branch bank in the settlement of Chuja of the Uichi district. Villagers complain of what a chore getting a transaction is. The National Security Service is upset by how many people are getting transactions from abroad.

"But that's natural. There are no jobs to be found here, and men seek employment abroad," villager Bahtijer Urinov said. "Every third family around here has someone working abroad. It is these men who send money to their families. Are we to be deprived even of what the men do earn?"

An officer of the National Security Service who insisted on anonymity said that express transaction system Western Union is very cooperative. It provides all relevant information on who is transacting what sums and to whom.

Official of the Andijani branch of the Uzbek National Bank claims that the refugees granted asylum abroad are sending money to their families in Uzbekistan too. Banks in the Andijan region hand out up to 300 transactions every day.

Official statistical data on how many Uzbek men are working abroad or how much they transact to their families are not available. Economists say, however, that the matter may concern up to $1 billion every year.