DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Afghanistan has signed an electricity supply deal with Uzbekistan which is 10% larger than last year to meet rising demand, a source at the state- owned Uzbekenergo told Russian media. Uzbekistan is an important supplier of electricity to northern Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Apogee, a Dubai-based international airport service company, opened an office in the Yuzhny Airport in Tashkent. Apogee focuses on former-Soviet countries, providing various support functions for airports.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Chinese state-owned SinoHydro said it will build a 27.5km section of a north-south road in Armenia for €74m ($81m). Once the full upgrade is finished in 2019, the complete 556km-long road, called the North-South Corridor, will connect the town ofBavra on Armenia’s border with Georgia to Meghri on Armenia’s border with Iran. The total cost of the project is €381m ($417). Various inter-governmental financial institutions and the Armenian government are paying for the project.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a government meeting, Kazakh Central Bank chief Daniyar Akishev said all prices should be given in tenge. One of Mr Akishev’s main objectives is to make the tenge more prominent and to de-dollarise the economy. Many goods and services — rent, hotel rooms and luxury goods — are still priced in US dollars.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale struck east Tajikistan shaking the capital Dushanbe more than 300km away, the US Geological Survey said. A Bulletin correspondent said that there had been no casualties and no major damage to buildings in Dushanbe.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia and China have agreed to begin free trade talks, an important step in strengthening relations. China has become an important economic player in Georgia. Georgia’s economy minister, Dimitri Kumsishvili, said he wanted to see Georgian wine and other agricultural goods exported to China.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and the European Union started negotiating a new treaty that would deepen bilateral relations in trade, energy, the environment and transport. The negotiations are particularly poignant as Armenia is now a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. Two years ago, too, Armenia rejected a deal to deepen ties with the EU.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reprimanded the head of the Central Bank and the head of the Commodity Exchange Agency at a government meeting, the Trend news agency reported.
Although details of the dressing- down were thin, as expected from Turkmenistan, it does indicate that, perhaps, Mr Berdymukhamedov is feeling the economic strain.
There have been a number of reports coming out of Turkmenistan over the year that show the country’s economy is under pressure from a drop in energy prices, a recession in Russia and a fall in value of currencies across Emerging Markets. At the start of the year the Central Bank devalued the manat currency by 19%. Last month, dissident websites reported that currency controls had been imposed.
And now this.
Trend reported that Mr Berdymukhamedov had told Central Bank chief Merdan Annadurdiyev and the head of the commodities exchange, Amandurdi Ishanov, that their work had been substandard. The report didn’t give any specific examples.
Mr Berdymukhamedov is keen on giving ministers a public dressing down. These reprimands generally betray some of his thinking on the country’s development. By focusing on the Central Bank and the commodities exchange, Mr Berdymukhamedov is showing his frustration with the economy.
With the distinct lack of accurate economic data flowing out of Turkmenistan, this is important.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh tenge keeps hitting record lows against the US dollar, trading around the 310/$1 mark in the second half of this week, and there is little indication that it will reverse this trend. The Central Bank has said it wants to scrap its previous monetary policy and find new solutions. The message it sent was, in essence: “we will play it by ear.” So much for restoring confidence in its monetary policies.
The Kyrgyz som stopped its fall and found its equilibrium at 75.6/$1 this week, the first stable week in months.
All other currencies were steady this week.
Next week, the US Federal Reserve Bank will hold a policy meeting. Analysts are bracing for the first interest rate rise since 2009.
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)
DEC. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Patriarch Ilia II, head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, appears to have embarrassed Georgian PM Iralik Garibashvili by asking to be granted the power to pardon prisoners only to withdraw the request after Mr Garibashvili issued a statement in support of the idea.
After watching a play put on by prisoners with Mr Garibashvili, Patriarch II told reporters that, alongside the president, he should have the right to pardon them of their crimes.
Mr Garibashvili didn’t comment at the time but the next day, his office said that he would push for the issue to be debated in parliament.
Shortly after Mr Garibashvili’s statement, though, Patriarch Ilia II appears to have changed his mind.
The Patriarch’s press office said: “It was an idea voiced with the desire for solidarity, support and compassion towards them [the prisoners] and not as a demand to discuss this proposal at a legislative level.”
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(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)