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Foreign currency savings rise in Kazakhstan

JAN 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The proportion of cash in banks in Kazakhstan held in foreign currencies rose to 77.5% in November from 76.4% a month earlier, media reported quoting the Central Bank, highlighting people’s lack of confidence in the national currency. It has been a long-held Central Bank policy to try to persuade people to keep their savings in tenge. The tenge, though, lost around half its value in 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Editorial: Turkmenistan’s pipeline

JAN. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan completed its $2.5b East-West Pipeline, a project with a stated objective of making gas available for export.

The pipeline can transport around 30b cubic metres of gas to the Turkmen Caspian shore and it could then potentially be linked to a Trans- Caspian Pipeline which connects to another pipeline system to Europe.

But, and this is the catch, there is no plan to build a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan from Turkmenistan. It’s a big catch and must be causing policymakers in Turkmenistan to lose sleep.

There is neither an agreement nor funding ready for a trans-Caspian link and bringing gas to the western part of Turkmenistan doesn’t necessarily mean it will continue to Europe.

The Turkmen government hailed the East-West Pipeline as a step towards Europe, but it could be Turkmenistan’s White Elephant. The East- West Pipeline was planned and commissioned during the height of the hype of building a trans-Caspian pipeline. With low oil and gas prices, the world is a very different place today.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Azerbaijani businessman denies accusations

DEC. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Malta-based Oil Transportation and Shipping Services, owned by Azerbaijani businessman Mubariz Mansimov, denied any allegation of its association with the BMZ Group, owned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son. Russia accused the BMZ Group of smuggling oil on behalf of the Islamic State. Relations between Russia and Turkey have broken down after a Turkish fighter-jet shot down a Russian fighter-jet over Syria in November.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Central Asia Metals’ plant in Kazakhstan boosts production

JAN. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Central Asia Metals said it achieved record high production levels at its copper plant in Kazakhstan, boosting its plans for 2016. Over 12,000 tonnes of copper were recovered in 2015, an 8.4% jump compared to 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Kazakh President’s ex- son-in-law dies in prison

DEC. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A judge in Austria ruled that Rakhat Aliyev hanged himself in a prison cell in Feb. 2015 shortly before he was due to appear in court charged with the murder of two bankers outside Almaty nearly 8 years earlier. Some people had suggested that Aliyev, previously a son- in-law and close confident of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, had been murdered. The Kazakh authorities had wanted to extradite him.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Turkmenistan launches new east-west gas pipeline

DEC. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan launched a new pipeline that will connect its gas fields in the east to the port of Turkmenbashi on the Caspian shore, a move that many consider a step towards exporting gas to Europe.

The 733km, 30b cubic metres pipeline, simply called East-West, will become the main cross-country artery for Turkmen gas, joining several other elements in the country’s existing gas infrastructure.

Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hailed the project as a significant achievement.

“The new pipeline will give impetus to the industrialisation of the country as well as increase the potential for Turkmenistan’s gas exports to Russia, Iran and Europe,” he said at the opening ceremony.

China buys the majority of Turkmen gas production, roughly 70b cubic metres, but Turkmenistan has also started work on the TAPI pipeline that should run to India.

The biggest prize, though, is selling gas to Europe. Mr Berdymukhamedov has held talks with European officials but no deal has been struck yet. To pump gas to Europe, Turkmenistan needs to build additional pipelines.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Turkmenistan opens embassy in Italy

DEC. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan is to open its first embassy in Italy, media reported quoting official documents. Italian oil and gas company ENI is a major investor in Turkmenistan which holds the fourth largest gas reserves in the world and aspires to exporting gas to Europe. Under President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan has pursued a more active foreign policy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Armenia’s CBank cuts interest rates

DEC. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by one percentage point to 8.75%, its lowest level for 11 months, because of a slowdown in inflation. It said that annualised inflation for the 12-months to the end of November measured 0.6% compared to 1.3% a year earlier. Slow global economic growth and low commodity prices have stalled prices in Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

ArmOil to build $35m oil refinery in Armenia

DEC. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — ArmOil, a privately-owned Armenian oil company, will finance the construction of the first oil refinery in the country, a move that would make Armenia less dependent on Russian refined products.

The company will pay for the $35m refinery, which would be built in Yeghvard, a town 20 km north of Yerevan.

Karen Chshmarityan, Armenia’s minister of economy, said the deal will include the construction of a storage facility and a small refinery.

“At the initial stage the company will build a storage facility for 4,000 tonnes of oil products and then equip it with a laboratory, and in 2016 the company will build a small refinery,” Mr Chshmarityan said.

ArmOil, owned by a Russian-Armenian group of businessmen, was founded in 2013 and does not publicly disclose company data.

Armenia has wanted to build an oil refinery for more than a decade. From 1999 to 2007, Russian energy company Gazprom said it was considering building a refinery but the plan was scrapped.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Tajikistan imposes cash withdrawal limit

JAN. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik Central Bank imposed currency withdrawal restrictions on account holders as the Tajik somoni currency continued to lose value, media reported. It limited cash withdrawals to $400 per person. In December, the government closed down exchange kiosks, blaming them for pressuring the value of the somoni.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)