Author Archives: admin

EBRD gives loan to Armenia

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD gave a $50m loan to Armenia to modernise a section of the Vanadzor-Bagratashen highway, which connects central Armenia to the border with Georgia. Repair and construction work will be carried out along a 51km section of the road. The European Investment Bank will support the modernisation of another section of the road with a $51m loan. Vanadzor is Armenia’s third-largest city. Armenia-Georgia ties have improved in recent years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmenistan postpones air link with Georgia

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Just weeks after announcing the new connection between Turkmenistan and Georgia, Turkmenistan Airlines suspended direct flights from Ashgabat to Tbilisi because of commercial concerns, Agenda.ge reported. The state-owned company had planned to start flights in September and later delayed the start date to November.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Tajiks and Russian resolve aviation row

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tajik aviation authority agreed to give Russia’s Ural Air a licence to fly from Moscow’s Zhukovsky airport to Dushanbe and Khujand, dampening a row that had been intensifying. Last week, after Tajikistan’s initial refusal to allow flights from Zhukovsky, Russia’s aviation committee threatened to cut air links with Tajikistan. Under the new agreement, Tajikistan also won permission to open new routes to Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Barnaul.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Reserves drop in Kazakhstan

NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said its international reserves fell by 2.9% in October to $30.5b, the first decline in four months. Since the beginning of the year, reserves have grown by 13.8%, the Central Bank said. Last year the Central Bank spent a large proportion of its reserves trying to prop up its currency. This year, though, under a new Central Bank chief, the strategy has changed and the Bank has stepped away from intervention.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Georgian Orthodox Church head to visit Moscow

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II will visit Moscow from Nov. 18 until Nov. 25 to, officially, celebrate the 70th birthday of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, media reported. Ilia II is an important figure in Georgian politics and is often used to as a conduit with Russia. In the immediate aftermath of a war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008, Ilia II was able to travel to Moscow to start talks on repairing relations. He usually meets Vladimir Putin, now Russia’s president, when he visits Moscow. His trip later this month will be his fifth since the Georgia- Russia war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Tethys says Kazakh police raided its offices

ALMATY, NOV. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Guernsey-registered Tethys Petroleum accused Kazakh police of raiding the offices of its subsidiaries in Kazakhstan days after a financing deal with Kazakhstan- based Olisol collapsed.

Tethys also said it had sacked Alexander Abramov, a principal at Olisol and director at Tethys, the day after the police raids . It accused Mr Abramov and Olisol of triggering the raids.

“We understand that the case was initiated by Mr Abramov. On November 2, 2016 the investigation division of the Internal Affairs Department of Almaty conducted searches of the Company’s offices,” Tethys said. Mr Abramov and Olisol have not commented.

Tethys, which operates oil and gas fields near the Aral Sea, also accused Olisol of other underhand business tactics.

The company said that its two main gas supply contracts were terminated shortly before a deadline for Olisol to pay its proposed investment. This allowed Olisol to back out of the agreement.

Essentially Tethys accused Olisol of deliberately scuppering its finance plans. Tethys had been relying on investment of $10m from Olisol, in return for equity, to push through a tough period for the energy industry.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakhstan’s flagship to put for auction

NOV. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna said it will put up for auction up to 25% of Air Astana, the country’s flagship carrier it co- owns with Britain’s BAE Systems. Samruk-Kazyna said that BAE Systems could also sell up to 25% of Air Astana, but that 51% of the shares should remain in the hands of Kazakh investors to comply with the law. Samruk-Kazyna owns 51% of Air Astana, BAE Systems owns the rest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmenistan settles row with Gazprom

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s Turkmengaz and Russia’s Gazprom settled a row over gas pricing after a meeting between Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week, media reported. Earlier this year, Gazprom filed an arbitration case against Turkmengaz in a Stockholm court alleging that it had been over-charged for gas. Turkmengaz had previously accused Gazprom of not paying its debts.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Female judges to deal with rape in Kazakhstan

NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor-General Zhakip Asanov said female attorneys should be in charge of all criminal trials involving sexual violence, such as rape and paedophilia. In a statement, Mr Asanov said women are better at understanding such cases. Rights groups have accused the Kazakh justice system of being soft on sexual violence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakh carmaker revives production

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite a 29% fall in revenues, Kazakhstan-based carmaker AziaAvto turned a profit of 3b tenge ($8m) in the first nine months of 2016, compared to a loss of 13.4b tenge in the same period last year. In a statement, the company said that despite the slump in the market, AziaAvto has managed to contain costs and revive production. AziaAvto’s plant in eastern Kazakhstan produces cars for Lada, Skoda, Chevrolet and KIA.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)