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Russia says IS have set up a training camp in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge

JAN. 27 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia said the radical Islamic group IS had set up a training centre in the Pankisi Gorge, prompting a quick and irritated denial from the Georgian government.

The spat has the potential to upset relations between Georgia and Russia at a delicate time. Over the past few years, since former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili lost power in 2013, relations between the two neighbours have improved. They fought a war in 2008 over the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian news agencies quoted Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, as saying at a press conference in Moscow: “We are getting reports IS militants use this remote area to train, rest and replenish their reserves. The terrorist threat from the Pankisi Gorge has not faded.”

The reference to the “terrorist threat” was to the Pankisi Gorge’s previous role as a hide-out for Chechen fighters battling Russian forces in the North Caucasus during the 1990s and the early 2000s.

The Pankisi Gorge is a predominantly Muslim area and Georgian security forces are increasingly concerned about IS recruitment from the region but Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili refuted Mr Lavrov’s allegations.

“The Georgian government carries out a full inspection of all the regions under its control. A few people from Pankisi Gorge have gone to Syria to fight for the Islamic State, though a strict control is imposed on their entry back to the country,” he said.

“I can say there is no terrorist threat in the Pankisi Gorge.”

Bidzina Lebanidze, political scientist at the Free University in Berlin said that he thought that Russia was trying to play mind games with Georgia by making the accusations to try to discredit it.

“It seems to be just another instrument in the Kremlin’s arsenal to put pressure on the pro-Western government in Tbilisi and to damage its international reputation,” he told The Conway Bulletin.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Editorial: Russian visit to Turkmenistan

JAN. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The visit by Sergei Lavrov to Ashgabat could be dismissed as a pre-scheduled annual trip by Russia’s foreign minister to one of the former Soviet Union’s outlying countries.

But that would be a mistake. His meeting with Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was an important one, especially in the context of a more powerful, more determined Taliban resurgence in northern Afghanistan.

Russia-Turkmenistan relations have been worsening over the past few years, a deterioration mainly caused by rows over gas contracts and prices and also an argument over one of Russia’s mobile providers.

It’s important for Turkmenistan, and the wider Central Asia region, that Russia-Turkmenistan relations are mended.

Ashgabat may need the Kremlin’s help with organising its defences against the Taliban. If the Taliban show any real determination to break into Central Asia, the governments of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan may well need Russian backup to repel them.

ENDS

Editorial from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Currency booths in Kazakh city

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Currency exchange booths in Almaty refused to change US dollars after the price of oil started to rise slightly, highlighting the fears and weaknesses of the Kazakh economy. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan’s currency has slumped with the decline in oil price. Unlike some of its neighbours, Kazakhstan hasn’t imposed heavy currency controls.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Returning Tajik migrants pressure social systems

JAN. 29 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — A recession in Russia and the collapse of the rouble has slowed remittances to Tajikistan and forced thousands of migrant workers back home, pressuring jobs, resources and social infrastructure.

Last week, Russia’s migrant service said that there were only 863,000 Tajik workers in Russia, down by a third from last year.

Tajikistan, with its poor, agricultural economy, cannot absorb the increasing number of returning migrants.

Toshboltaev Bozorboy, a 50-year- old man, was one of the returnees. He arrived back in December and said

that he’s been unable to find a job since he flew back to Tajikistan.

“I used to work in construction sites in Moscow earning 20,000 roubles a month ($263) but there is still no other option for me except to leave for Russia,” he said.

The economic downturn started in mid-2014 when oil prices started to fall and Western-imposed sanctions on Russia started to bite. Remittances from workers abroad make up around half of Tajikistan’s GDP and the economic slowdown has had a huge impact. Most Tajiks who lost their jobs in Russia said they were unable to find new jobs in Tajikistan.

Firuz Iskandarov, 23, quit Russia in August 2014. He has been out of work since then.

“Since coming back from Russia, I have done some farming and selling fruits. But that is a seasonal work. I don’t know what we are going to do,” he said, his voice choking with emotion.

For the authorities, returning migrants are a serious issue. A migration expert in Dushanbe said: “For most it will be difficult to find a decent job, and they will not be able to provide for their families. And this can lead to an increase in domestic violence, suicide, and a deterioration in criminal situations in the country.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Investor buys buses in Kazakh city

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Green Bus Company, a private transport company from Shymkent, has bought a 70% stake in Almatyelectrotrans, the company in charge of public transit in Almaty. Baurzhan Baibek, mayor of Almaty, said the new investor has pledged to buy 200 new buses. Almaty City will retain a 30% share in Almatyelectrotrans. Almaty’s transport network has been mired in controversy after a crash last year injured several people. Dozens of bus drivers have also protested over a new ticketing system.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Turkmen President signs new military doctrine

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed a new military doctrine that confirmed Turkmenistan’s neutral status. There had been speculation that, under a potential threat from the Tablian, Mr Berdymukhamedov would reduce the importance of Turkmenistan’s neutrality in its military doctrine. He didn’t but official media reported that he did want to boost Turkmenistan’s defence measures.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Kazakhstan sells arms to Jordan

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has sold military equipment and weapons to Jordan, Kazakh defence minister Imangali Tasmagambetov said in a statement after a delegation returned from the Middle Eastern country. Mr Tasmagambetov said Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering, a joint venture with South African arms manufacturer Paramount, will supply several Arlan armoured vehicles to Jordan. The joint venture started producing the Arlan armoured personnel carriers last year. It set up the partnership in 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Kazakhstan’s EXPO-2017 cuts budget

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) -The organisers of Kazakhstan’s flagship EXPO-2017 event have cut its budget by 53b tenge ($140m) to keep pace with demands from the government to slash spending during this period of low oil revenue. Previously, nothing had seemingly been too expensive or too extravagant for EXPO-2017.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

KAZ Minerals output drop

JAN. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite increasing copper production by 300% in 2015, KAZ Minerals still posted a 3% reduction in copper cathode, its finished product. The company, focused on Kazakhstan, said the quality of the copper ore it mined was below average. London-listed KAZ Minerals, previously known as Kazakhmys, also said its copper cathode production dropped from 83,500 to 81,100 tonnes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Tethys looks for a new partner as debts mount up in Kazakhstan

ALMATY, JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum said it will seek alternative funding after Kazakhstan-based Olisol missed a payment on a share deal agreed last year.

In a press statement, Tethys said it had received just $5m of the $15m promised by Olisol. According to Tethys, privately-owned Olisol missed the Jan. 22 deadline to send a $2m tranche of its commitment to secure a stake in the company.

Olisol has said the delay was due to currency controls in Kazakhstan linked to the sharp depreciation of the Kazakh tenge over the few past months.

And Tethys is still hopeful that it will receive Olisol’s funding.

“Should the overdue funds under the interim facility arrive in a timely manner however, Tethys will continue to work with Olisol to close the wider transaction,” Tethys, which is involved in oil and gas projects across Georgia and Central Asia, said.

Tethys needs cash to meet its debt deadlines. Last year it missed a couple of consecutive cash calls at its project in Tajikistan, the Bokhtar exploration block. Its partners in the project, China’s CNPC and France’s Total, have called on it to drop out. The Tajik government has also said it would be interested in taking a stake in Bokhtar.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)