Author Archives: admin

Kazakh telecoms launch 4G

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Telecoms companies in Kazakhstan are rolling out 4G services after the government opened the market up to competition at the end of 2015. Tele2 Kazakhstan said it launched 4G services in several central and eastern districts in Kazakhstan, building on its merger with Altel in November. Before the market was liberalised, Altel had been the only licensee of 4G services. Kcell and Beeline also said they will launch pilot 4G coverage in major cities.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Editorial: Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Georgian civil unrests

MARCH 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The economic downturn that has hit Central Asia and the South Caucasus in the past two years has dented people’s purchasing power.

Most people earn salaries in their local currency but these have lost between 50% and 25% of their value in the past months.

This has triggered some social unrest, especially in the South Caucasus. In January, people in Azerbaijan took to the streets to protest against rising food prices and stagnating wages.

The same reasons were voiced by miners in Tkibuli, Georgia, who went on strike for two weeks asking for a 40% increase in salaries. Now reports have emerged from Yerevan where market stall owners briefly scuffled with police over rental prices.

In Central Asia, protests are less frequent and, generally, silenced quickly by the authorities. Last month, however, dozens of Kazakh women banging pots and blowing whistles protested in Almaty about mortgage repayments.

The crisis is starting to bite hard and the people are growing increasingly restless.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Kyrgyzstan considers Muslim debt

FEB. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps following Kazakhstan’s lead, Kyrgyz parliamentarians are going to discuss the potential to issue a so-called sukuk, media reported. A sukuk is a debt which adheres to Islamic laws and principles. One of the advantages is that a sukuk may attract a greater range of potential investors from the Middle East and South-East Asia. The Kyrgyz parliament still has to discuss new laws aimed at easing a route to issuing a sukuk.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Iran sells gas pipes to Turkmenistan

FEB. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iranian company RAM Plast sold around $6m of pipes to Turkmenistan in a deal linked to the Turkmen government’s drive to link outlying villages to the main gas grid. RAM has previously supplied small capacity polymer pipes to Turkmenistan. The deal highlights Turkmenistan-Iran trade relations.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Kazakh CBank introduces new rules

FEB. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank imposed new rules for exchanging tenge into US dollars in an effort to bolster its tenge currency, which has lost around half its value in the past 12 months. From now, Kazakhs will have to present photo ID if they want to exchange more than 1m tenge ($2,860) into any foreign currency. This is half the previous level.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Turkmenistan unveils Olympic torch

FEB. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is a keen sportsman.

He loves horse riding and urges Turkmens to keep fit, even declaring April to be the month of “health and happiness”.

And now he has his own sporting mega project to organise — the 2017 Asian Indoor Games which Ashgabat is due to host.

At the latest meeting of the organising committee for the 2017 Games, which state television portrayed as an important step forward in the setup of the event, Mr Berdymukhamedov unveiled the design of the Olympic torch, featuring Turkmenistan’s trademark bright green branding.

Turkmen opposition media, based in Europe and not in Turkmenistan, reported that the Olympic torch for the 2017 Games might be lit at the giant Galkynysh gas field in the south of the country.

It’s still unclear if gundogar.org was making mischief or reporting fact. If it does materialise, it will be another reminder of the importance of gas in the national psyche of Turkmenistan.

And the Games have already attracted controversy. Last year, Amnesty International used satellite imagery to show how several urban clusters on Ashgabat’s fringe were being demolished to make room for the Olympic Village. Turkmen officials didn’t refute the allegations.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

BP cuts stuff number in Azerbaijan

FEB. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – British oil company BP laid off 8.5% of its staff in Azerbaijan in 2015, according to a report. The company said it employed 2,992 workers at the end of 2014. In 2015, this number shrunk by 257 people. BP has been hit by the fall in oil prices and is looking to reduce the cost of its operations overseas. Azerbaijan is one of its biggest areas of operations.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Afghan security advisor meets Turkmen officials

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hanif Atmar, an Afghan National Security Adviser, met officials in Turkmenistan to discuss security around the TAPI pipeline, media reported, a pipeline that Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hopes will pump gas to India, across Afghanistan, by 2019. The main focus of the talks was the growing strength of Taliban militants in the region.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Uzbek President creates deputy khokims

MARCH 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov has created the position of deputy khokim across the countries regions in a move apparently aimed at reducing the power of the main khokims, RFE/RL reported. Khokims are powerful regional governors who are centrally appointed. They control swathes of the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Russian bank sponsors Georgia’s football team

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian subsidiary of Russia’s VTB Bank will sponsor Georgia’s football team, media reported. The deal highlights, once again, just how improved relations are between the two countries. This sort of deal would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Georgia and Russia fought a brief war over the breakaway state of South Ossetia in 2008.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)