Uzbekistan 
Illegal Issues of Postage Stamps

Dear Sir/Madam

The Communications and Information Agency of UZBEKISTAN asks me to inform you of the following:

"Unidentified individuals have been seeking to discredit our country through the circulation of illegal postage stamp issues. We have been informed of the appear­ance on the philatelic market of counterfeit postage stamps marked "O’ZBEKISTON". These stamps, whose value is marked in Uzbekistan sums, have not been issued by the postal administration of Uzbekistan.

"Our administration wishes to make the postal administrations of Union member countries, the philatelic community and collectors aware of the emergence of these counterfeit postage stamps, and urges them not to accept these stamps as postal prepayment or purchase them.

"The postal administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan also asks the postal administrations of Union member countries to inform their philatelic partners of the existence and circulation of these counterfeit stamps and exercise vigilance.

"A list of the counterfeit postage stamps is annexed."

Yours faithfully,

K J S McKEOWN

Director of Markets

Annex

Illegal postage stamp issues produced in the name of the Republic of Uzbekistan

–                Fourteen souvenir sheets entitled "A HISTORY OF THE STEAM TRAIN", each containing one postage stamp. The face values are 36 UZS (sums) for eight of the sheets, 56 UZS for four of the sheets and 75 UZS for two of the sheets. The stamps feature the year "2001", the arms of the Republic of Uzbekistan and various types of trains with their names. The sheets have been assigned the reference numbers UZB0201 to UZB0214.

–                One miniature sheet of six postage stamps featuring various animals, their names and the inscription "POCHTA 2000". The face values are 2 x 36 UZS, 2 x 56 UZS and 2 x 75 UZS, and the reference number is UZB0215.

–                One miniature sheet of six postage stamps entitled "YEARS OF SNAKE", featuring various snakes, their names and the inscription "POCHTA 2000". The face values are 2 x 36 UZS, 2 x 56 UZS and 2 x 75 UZS, and the refer­ence number is UZB0216.

–                One miniature sheet of six postage stamps featuring various species of "chiroptera", their names and the inscription "POCHTA 2000". The face values are 2 x 36 UZS, 2 x 56 UZS and 2 x 75 UZS, and the reference number is UZB0217.

–                One miniature sheet of five postage stamps featuring a label in place of the sixth stamp. These stamps feature various species of "perissodactyla", their names and the inscription "POCHTA 2000". The label contains an incorrect depiction of the national flag of the Republic of Uzbekistan and is inscribed "O ZBEKISTON". The face values are 2 x 36 UZS, 1 x 56 UZS and
2 x 75 UZS, and the reference number is UZB0218.

–                One miniature sheet of six postage stamps featuring lizards, their names and the inscription "POCHTA 2000". The face values are 2 x 36 UZS,
2 x 56 UZS and 2 x 75 UZS, and the reference number is UZB0219.

–                Two vertical miniature sheets of six postage stamps each, featuring birds, their names and the inscription "POCHTA 2000". The face values are
2 x 36 UZS, 2 x 56 UZS and 2 x 75 UZS, and the reference numbers are UZB0220 and UZB0221.

–                Four miniature sheets of eight stamps each, entitled "THE O’ZBEKISTON TRAINS", inscribed with the year "2001", the arms of the Republic of Uzbekistan and various types of trains with their names.

–                Sheet number UZB0222 contains stamps with a face value of 75 UZS; sheet number UZB0223 contains stamps with a face value of 125 UZS; sheet number UZB0224 contains stamps with a face value of 95 UZS, and sheet number UZB0225 contains stamps with a face value of 56 UZS.

–                One vertical miniature sheet of six postage stamps, featuring chess pieces on a chess board, the inscription "O ZBEKISTON" and the year "2001". The face values are 2 x 36 UZS, 2 x 56 UZS and 2 x 75 UZS, and the reference number is UZB0226.

More information about the illegal issues can be obtained directly from the UPU, Mrs. Maria Libera.