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Armenia wants to ban Turkish goods

APRIL 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian economy minister Artsvik Minasayan said the government is considering a ban on the import of Turkish goods, in retaliation to Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Despite the fact that both Turkey and Armenia are members of the WTO, trade bans can be implemented because, even within the WTO, Turkey does not recognise Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Kyrgyz police raid Kumtor’s Bishkek office

BISHKEK, APRIL 28 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Toronto-listed miner Centerra Gold said that police in Bishkek have raided the offices of its wholly-owned Kumtor Gold Company, reigniting a vicious row between the Canadian company and the Kyrgyz government.

According to Kyrgyz officials, police were looking to collect documents related to allegations of financial misconduct by Kumtor.

Centerra said that the government had previously complained about a financial transaction it carried out in 2013. It once again refuted any allegations of criminal activities.

“The company reiterates that such inter-corporate dividend complied with the 2009 agreements governing the Kumtor Project and all applicable Kyrgyz Republic laws. Any claims to the contrary are without merit,” Centerra said in a statement.

On news of the raid, the Toronto stock market briefly suspended Centerra Gold’s shares.

Centerra said mine operations at Kumtor, which is located in the mountainous east of the country, were unaffected.

The Kyrgyz government owns a 32.7% stake in Centerra.

It has been trying to turn this stake in Centerra into a direct stake in Kumtor, the country’s single biggest asset, triggering a major row.

Kumtor represents around 7% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP and is the country’s most valuable asset.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Kazakh oil producers ditch BTC pipeline export route

ALMATY, APRIL 26 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh oil producers have stopped exporting via the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline as they become increasingly cost-conscious during this period of low global oil prices, a shift that will damage Azerbaijan’s reputation as an energy transit route from Asia to Europe

Data from BTC showed that Kazakhstan’s latest contribution to the pipeline was in January. This is the first time in years that Kazakh producers have suspended shipments for more than a month.

This confirms the marginalisation of BTC as an export route for Kazakh producers, most predominantly Chevron-led Tengizchevroil (TCO).

Analysts said the ditching of BTC as an export route for Kazakh oil, a route once heralded as the region’s saviour, was linked to both contractual and market constraints.

“The contract between TCO and BTC for shipments recently ended, and with the CPC pipeline expansion adding new export capacity, there is capacity to export more TCO oil via CPC, which is a more economical option for TCO at low oil prices,” said Andrew Neff, senior petroleum analyst at IHS.

The CPC, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, is an oil pipeline that sweeps around the northern Kazakh shore of the Caspian Sea and ends at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It was designed in the 1990s to ship oil from TCO, Kazakhstan’s largest producer. It’s been gradually expanded and shipped 1.1m barrels/day in March, nearly double its rate of 10 years ago. BTC’s capacity is 1m barrels/day but in March 2016, it transported 721,500 barrels/day.

CPC is a cheaper export route because, to ship oil to the start of BTC, Kazakh producers needs to transport oil across the Caspian Sea.

Mr Neff, the IHS oil analyst, said that as well as hitting BTC’s earnings, dropping Kazakh oil from its mix will also reduce the quality of BTC exports.

“It will change BTC’s overall blend and lower its quality, as Turkmen crude is heavier, plus it will reduce oil transit revenues for Azerbaijan,” he said.

BTC’s main shareholders are BP with a 30% stake and Azerbaijan’s state-owned SOCAR with a 25% stake.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Kazakh businessman takes KazKom

APRIL 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev was made chairman of Kazkommertsbank, the company said in a statement. KazKom is the country’s largest bank by assets. Marc Holtzman, who previously served as chairman, will now be the CEO. This completes a takeover process that lasted for two years and involved KazKom’s acquisition of debt-ridden BTA Bank. KazKom’s former majority owner Nurzhan Subkhanberdin resigned as chairman last year.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Stadler wins Georgian train deal

APRIL 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Swiss railway rolling stock manufacturer Stadler will send four double- decker trains to Georgia to service its most popular tourist resorts. The Georgian government plans to use the trains to connect the capital, Tbilisi, with three resort towns – Batumi, Kobuleti and Ureki. Stadler has already supplied similar trains to Azerbaijan.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Editorial: Georgia’s Central Bank

APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank sounded confident in its review of the country’s monetary policy, but looking at the data, the cheers are a bit more muted.

Yes, high interest rates have curbed inflation and stabilised the lari exchange rate — together with a few interventions in the currency market, that is — but economic activity and GDP growth have suffered.

The Central Bank has now hinted that the country needs to reach a new normal and said it will lower interest rates further in the next months.

Should Georgia be able to weather what analysts deem to be the last months of a two-year crisis, it could see growth pick up again in 2017.

The crucial issue, though, is how to boost the economy without pushing inflation too high.

Georgia is moving towards a more West-friendly economic environment, changing the tax code and giving incentives to foreign companies looking to set up shop in the country.

Both the IMF and the government now hope that their bet on the neo- liberal model will work.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

EBRD invests in Kazakh trucks

APRIL 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD paid €3.3m ($3.8) to become a shareholder in Globaltruck Kazakhstan, a truck operating group. Globaltruck is registered in Cyprus and owns Longrun Asia a start-up trucking company in Kazakhstan. Longrun Asia will use Globaltruck’s equity funds of €10m ($11.4m) to buy up to 300 trucks and trailers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Uzbek President talks up Russia links

APRIL 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov flew to Russia to hold high- level talks with his counterpart Vladimir Putin focused on security along Central Asia’s southern border with Afghanistan.

Just weeks after Russia ratified an agreement to pardon most of Uzbekistan’s debt, Mr Karimov’s visit looked like a show of support for Mr Putin.

“There are certain attempts to find a solution to the Afghan issue without Russia. I believe this is wrong,” Mr Karimov told the press after meeting Mr Putin.

On trade, Mr Karimov said a row between Russia and Turkey over the shooting down of a fighter jet over Syria last year may allow Uzbekistan to boost trade with Russia.

“Turkey today can not provide [fruits and vegetables] because of well known reasons. Now tell me, does Uzbekistan produce less fruit and vegetables?” Mr Karimov said, hinting that Uzbekistan might be the perfect substitute for Turkish goods.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Amec wins Azerbaijani deal

APRIL 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-based energy service company Amec Foster Wheeler signed a contract for so-called frontend engineering design at Azerbaijan’s Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery in Bak. SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, awarded the contract. Amec will complete the work by in Q1 2017.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Uzbekistan’s Savitsky Museum to open new wing

APRIL 29 2016, NUKUS/Uzbekistan (The Conway Bulletin) — The Savitsky Museum in Nukus, west Uzbekistan, will open a new wing in September which will increase its exhibition space by five times, a museum official told a Bulletin correspondent.

The opening of the new wing will be welcomed by art lovers who want to see more of one of the largest collections of Russian avant-garde art.

In an interview, a curator at the Savitsky Museum said: “We will open the new wing on Sept. 1, Independence Day. It will mean we get to show 15% of the art collection, rather than just 3%.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)