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Kazakh police arrest leading journalist

FEB. 22 2016, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — Police arrested Seitkazy Matayev, one of Kazakhstan’s most prominent journalists and a former press secretary of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, as well as his son Aset for stealing government money and for tax evasion.

The arrests are a an escalation of the pressure that journalists are under in Kazakhstan. They appeared to show that no journalist, whatever their reputation and links, is beyond the reach of the authorities during a crackdown which analysts have linked to a sharp downturn in the economy and a parliamentary election next month.

Mr Matayev served as a spokesman for Nazarbayev in 1991-3, is head of the journalists’ union and runs the National Press Club in Almaty, used as a discussion platform for opposition, journalists, activists, politicians and businessmen.

He was also the founder and owner of the KazTAG news agency of which his son was CEO. The authorities said that they had stolen a combined 300m tenge ($861,000), from state organisations.

Journalists told The Conway Bulletin’s Almaty correspondent that Mr Matayev’s arrest signalled that the authorities wanted to increase the pressure on journalists further.

Zhanna Baitelova, a freelance journalist, said it was no surprise that the authorities were pressuring Kazakhstan’s opposition media.

“But when they detain the head of Journalists’ Union of Kazakhstan, an organisation that is per se neutral, it is shocking,” she said. “The situation with press freedom in Kazakhstan is critical, especially in the light of recent events.”

Police later released Asset Matayev. Seitkazy Matayev was placed under house arrest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Russia strengthens base in Armenia

FEB. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has reinforced its base in Armenia with four of its latest MiG fighter-jets and a new helicopter, media reported quoting the Russian military. The reinforcements come at a time of increased tension and militarisation between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia’s military base in Armenia is one of its largest over- seas bases. It considers it essential for maintaining the balance of power in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Editorial: Tajik students

FEB. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Imitation is, they say, the most sincere form of flattery. So is flattery what Tajik officials had in mind when they organised a series of student protests against diplomatic missions of the European Union, the OSCE and Turkey in Dushanbe and Khujand? Or perhaps they were just thinking about the intimidation they wanted to inflict on diplomats?

They deny any link to the student protests, but in Tajikistan people are controlled and a protest outside a foreign embassy couldn’t have happened without the support of the authorities.

Ten years ago, the Russian state spawned a youth movement called Nashi. It was well-funded, well-organised and vicious. When it was given a target it went into attack mode. Just ask ambassadors from Western countries they targeted or the democracy advocates they harassed.

It appears as if Tajik officials now want to achieve something similar, although on a smaller scale. They want to intimidate Turkey and the European Union into giving up opposition members who have fled Tajikistan. Nashi’s own results were, in the end, mixed and the Tajik students’ won’t be any better.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

OBI store to open in Kazakh city

FEB. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — German DIY kit retailer OBI will build its first store in Almaty, Baurzhan Baibek, the city’s mayor told local media. Construction works will start in May and the new store will open in 2017. Kazakhstan’s DIY market is growing as more and more people follow the European trend for renovating their homes. Although an economic downturn has battered Kazakhstan it is still considered a decent market for well- known European brands open up in. Earlier this month, French retailer Auchan opened its first store.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Turkmen President pardons prisoners

FEB. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov pardoned nearly 1,500 prisoners to mark National Flag Day, media reported. The gesture is fairly well-used by Mr Berdymukhamedov who likes to portray himself as a powerful, benign father-figure. Rights groups, though, accuse him of presiding over a regime as repressive as his predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Georgia and China discusses free trade deal

FEB. 22/23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian and Chinese officials met in Tbilisi for the first round of talks aimed at negotiating a free trade agreement between the two countries. China has become an increasingly important trade partner for Georgia. Media said that China is now Georgia’s fourth largest trading partner.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Kazakhstan says it does not have right to buy Karachaganak stake

ALMATY, FEB. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s government said it will not try to buy a 29.25% stake in the Karachaganak gas field that Shell inherited from BG Group after it completed a takeover earlier this month.

Previously, Kazakh officials had said the government might use its preemptive rights to buy out BG Group’s share in the field, one of the most prolific in independent Kazakhstan’s history.

Kazakhstan has now said it does not have any preemptive rights to buy the stake because the Shell-BG deal was not directly linked to the Karachaganak contract. Shell, which completed its $53b takeover of BG on Feb. 15, has not commented.

A direct change in the structure of the contract would have given the Kazakh government the right to move first and buy stakes on sale at market prices. The government used this mechanism when ConocoPhillips wanted out of the contract for Kashagan, a giant oil field in the Caspian Sea, in 2013. At the time, Kazakhstan matched a $5.4b offer by India’s ONGC Videsh and later sold the stake to China’s CNPC for the same price.

Now, the government has decided it has no right to do so.

Of course, Kazakhstan’s economic position has changed considerably since 2013. Then it was awash with spare cash. Now it is counting its coppers and flogging off chunks of previously sacrosanct state companies to pull through a deepening economic crisis.

And, for Kazakhstan, shying away from the Shell/BG stake in Karachaganak makes it look good and pro- Western business, especially important in this tight economic climate.

Karachaganak’s shareholders are Shell with a 29.25% stake, ENI with 29.25%, Chevron with 8%, Lukoil with 13.5% and Kazmunaigas with 10%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Locals in Kyrgyzstan’s region complain on Jerooy

FEB. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Local residents of the Talas region in Kyrgyzstan asked the government to halt the development of the Jerooy gold mine because of concerns it was damaging the environment. Last May, Russian miner Vostok-geolodobycha bought the licence to exploit the mine for $100m. Russian businessman Musa Bazhaev owns Vostok-geolodobycha. Analysts have previously said that local grievances over the environment have been exploited to leverage payment from companies developing mines.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Armenia’s ruling party signs coalition

FEB. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s ruling Republican Party signed a coalition deal with the staunchly anti-Turkey Armenian Revolutionary Federation, also known as Dashnaktsutyun, underlining the Armenian government’s strengthened resistance to improved ties with its neighbour. Under the deal, Dashnaktsutyun, which holds five seats in Armenia’s 131-seat parliament, will have three ministers in government — economy, education and local administration. The Republican Party, the party of President Serzh Sarksyan, holds 70 seats in parliament. There had been some movement in 2012 and 2013 towards reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)

Azerbaijan and Iran look to resolve Caspian oil field row

FEB. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran and Azerbaijan have started negotiations on how to develop the disputed Araz-Alov-Sharg oil project in the Caspian Sea that has lain undeveloped for 18 years.

The talks, part of a visit by Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev to Tehran to boost relations, also high- light Iran’s potential to be an important partner in the region now that most international sanctions have been lifted.

The oil and gas website Natural Gas Europe (NGE), quoted two sources close to Azerbaijan-Iran negotiations on talks over the Araz-Alov- Sharg project, which Iran calls Alborz.

It quoted a source close to negotiations as saying that they had “already reached a primary agreement to develop the block jointly, but they had not finalised the details”.

For Western companies any deal between Azerbaijan and Iran to develop the site would create problems.

The SOCAR website still shows off a production sharing agreement for the field signed in 1998 by several Western oil and gas companies including BP, Statoil and Exxon.

That PSA may turn out to be worthless and, if Azerbaijan and Iran can agree on the field’s ownership, may be torn up in favour of a bilateral Azerbaijani-Iranian deal.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Feb. 26 2016)