Author Archives: admin

Unpaid gas bill pressures glass factory in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, APRIL 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A row over gas debt repayment has shown just how indebted some Kyrgyz companies have become as the entire Central Asia region battles with a deepening economic downturn.

Interglass, which had employed up to 600 people in Tomok in northern Kyrgyzstan, now owes the Kyrgyz subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom over 1.1b som, or around $16m, for unpaid gas. This is half Gazprom Kyrgyzstan’s total outstanding debt it is owed by its Kyrgyz customers.

Four years ago, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev had toured Interglass and held it up as an example of Kyrgyz regional enterprise. Now Interglass is struggling to stave off bankruptcy.

Gazprom Kyrgyzstan said that it has tried to negotiate with the glass- making company so that it can pay back its debt in a structured manner but that negotiations had collapsed.

“Taking into account the social importance of the enterprise, in March Gazprom Kyrgyzstan gave Interglass in every opportunity to settle the debt for the supplied gas,” it said in a statement.

It has previously called on the Kyrgyz government to step in to help Interglass pay off its debts and also threatened to turn off the gas to the whole of Kyrgyzstan if it doesn’t pay.

There has been no comment from Interglass or its parent company, the Germany-registered but Bishkek based, Steinert Industries.

For the Kyrgyz government, the row creates a potentially incendiary scenario. It sold off its gas distribu- tion network to Gazprom for a sym- bolic $1 in 2014 in exchange for settling its debt and agreeing to fund much needed investment. It has just renegotiated a cheaper price of gas for ordinary customers but businesses still complain that in the current economic climate Gazprom Kyrgyzstan is overcharging.

The government has said it will step in to help Interglass pay its bill but, so far, there has been little evidence to show that it has achieved any major inroads.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgian Dream’s partner quits government coalition

APRIL 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — The National Forum, previously seen as one of the government’s most loyal junior partners, quit the Georgian Dream-led governing coalition, dealing a major blow to the coalition’s hopes of retaining a majority at a parliamentary election later this year.

The Georgian Dream coalition now has a thin majority in parliament, holding 82 seats out of a total of 150. The National Forum has six MPs. Its decision to quit government came only a few days after the Republican party, also part of the coalition government, said that it would campaign on a separate slate at the parliamentary election.

Korneli Kakachia, director of the local non-partisan think tank the Georgian Institute of Politics, said that recent government policies by the Georgian Dream party had irritated its junior partners.

“This is pretty damaging to the Georgian Dream, as the National Forum were very loyal partners. Their announcement will raise questions with the voters,” he said. “The other parties are still in the coalition, but their support for new laws is not assured. Especially not the recently proposed bill by Georgian Dream to allow the PM to stay in office and run for MP at the same time.”

Under the current legislation, the PM can’t run for election as an MP. The Georgian Dream, though, want to change this as they want current PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili to head their party list.

But splits in the coalition has impacted its popularity with voters. Luka, 32, leaned against his BMW taxi. “If they can’t even keep their coalition together, how can they rule a country?” he said.

Standing next to him, 58-year-old Giorgi nodded his head in agreement. “I voted for them in the last election, but I’m not sure I’ll give them my vote in October,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Uzbekistan jails spy

APRIL 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – An Uzbek citizen received a 16-year jail sentence in Uzbekistan for spying for Tajikistan. The televised trial showed the man, Sharifjon Asrorov, confessing the alleged crimes. Tensions between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan continue to be high. Governments in Central Asia use espionage crimes to discredit rival neighbours.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Power consumption drops in Kyrgyzstan

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Consumption of electricity in Kyrgyzstan was down 23% in March compared to last year, due to warm weather conditions, according to industry data. Total consumption amounted to 881m kWh. Severlektro, the largest distributor, said it delivered 438m kWh, 29% less than in March 2015. Previously an opposition MP had said a drop in electricity consumption showed the extent of the economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Russian company launches Bukhara power station

APRIL 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Eriell, a Russian oil service company, and Enesol, a UAE-based renewable energy company, said they have launched a 1.2MW mobile solar station, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Independent States to power Lukoil’s upstream operations in Kandym, near the border with Turkmenistan. Eriell is one of Lukoil’s largest suppliers in Uzbekistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Kashagan opening gives impetus to Kazakhstan

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) which operates a pipeline that pumps oil around the northern shore of the Caspian Sea said it will ship oil from Kashagan in the fourth quarter of the year. The CPC statement gives extra impetus to the Kazakh government assessment that the Kashagan project will be operational by the end of 2016. Kashagan, which was supposed to propel Kazakhstan into the Premier League of oil producers was closed in 2013 for repairs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Kyrgyzstan expropriates resorts

APRIL 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz government signed a decree to retake possession of four Uzbek-owned resorts near Lake Issyk-Kul. Buston, Rokhat, Dilorom, and Golden Sands are all owned by Uzbek entities, both public and private. These are Soviet- era vacation resorts that had been built in the 1960s. Tensions have been running high between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan since ethnic fighting in Osh in 2010.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

KazTransOil revenues grow in Kazakhstan

APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – KazTransOil, Kazakhstan’s state owned pipeline distributor, said its revenue grew 3.2% to 213b tenge ($617m) in 2015. In US dollar terms, however, the company’s revenues shrank by around 30% due to the sharp depreciation of the tenge last summer. Analysts forecast a decline in sales for KazTransOil in 2016, but the company hopes to boost its revenues in 2017 with the giant Kashagan project coming online.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Four members, including Turkmenistan agree on TAPI investment

APRIL 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – State-owned Turkmengaz, Interstate Gas Systems of Pakistan, Afghan Gas Enterprise and India’s GAIL agreed to invest $200m in engineering studies for the TAPI gas pipeline project. The four members of the consortium forecast that TAPI will cost around $10b. Construction works started last December. Once built, TAPI will pump gas from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field to India.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

FDI for 2015 drops in Azerbaijan

APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Foreign direct investment in Azerbaijan dropped 6.3% last year to $7.5b, media quoted data from the government’s statistic committee as saying. The statistics add more evidence, although it is barely needed, of the sharp economic downturn that Azerbaijan, and other countries in the region, has had to deal with.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)