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Uzbekistan reduces child cotton pickers

NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A report by the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) said the use of child labour to pick cotton in Uzbekistan has reduced although it hasn’t been totally eradicated.

The ILO’s findings are important because Uzbekistan has come under growing criticism for its use of children, medical staff and teachers for picking cotton. Cotton is one of Uzbekistan’s biggest exports, although many Western companies have stopped buying Uzbek cotton.

“The use of children in the cotton harvest has become rare and sporadic,” the ILO said in its report. “Authorities have taken a range of measures to reduce the incidence of child labour and make it socially unacceptable.”

It said that a campaign to stop teachers and medics being used to pick cotton has been less successful.

Activists rank Uzbekistan as one of the worst countries in the world for upholding human rights.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Georgia strengthens border security

NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s security services said it had strengthened its border controls after at least 130 people were killed in Paris earlier this month by so- called Islamic radicals. Recruiters sending people to IS in Syria have used Georgia as a transit country to access east Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Tajikistan extends website blocks

NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s parliament passed a law which will make it legal for the authorities to switch off the internet during counterterrorism operations. The Tajik authorities regularly block access to social media and news websites which they say promote Islamic extremism, irritating free speech campaigners.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

VimpelCom close to deal due to Uzbek bribery

NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian telecoms company VimpelCom could be close to a $775m settlement with a US court that accused it of paying bribes to access mobile licences in Uzbekistan, Bloomberg reported. Earlier in November, the company set aside $900m for settlement costs. VimpelCom representatives declined to comment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Markets: De-dollarisation challenge

NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The share of foreign currency-denominated deposits in Kazakhstan increased from 55.5% in January 2015 to 65.9% at the end of October, according to Central Bank chief Daniyar Akishev.

The devaluation of the tenge vis-à- vis the US dollar motivated people to keep their savings in US dollars to preserve the value.

One ofMr Akishev’s main tasks is to restore confidence in the tenge, after the currency lost 40% of its value over the summer. The 65.9% mark will beMr Akishev’s starting point, the ratio when he took office after his predecessor Kairat Kelimbetov was sacked on Nov. 2. New regulations restricting mortgage loans in foreign currencies might help reduce dollarisation, but a new wave of non-performing loans will soon hit the banking sector. A painful reminder of the 2008/9 financial crisis.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Kyrgyz prison chief hangs

NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The warden in charge of the jail from which nine prisoners escaped last month has been found hanged in his cell, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Imankul Teltaev had been in pre-trial detention waiting for this trial on charges linked to the mass escape.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Turkmen asks Iran to collaborate on Caspian issues

NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Tehran, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov proposed to his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, that the states bordering the Caspian Sea hold a high-level conference to discuss boosting the capacity of their ports. Turkmenistan is leading moves to increase trade around the Caspian Sea.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Kyrgyz Central Bank to sell diamonds

NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz Central Bank is spending so much cash trying to defend its som currency that it is considering selling off its stock of diamonds.

Tolkunbek Abdygulov, the Central Bank chief, said that the bank had already sold large amounts of gold and that silver and diamonds were next.

“We started selling gold this year, next year are going to add silver bullion to this and have discussed the options of even selling diamonds,” he said according to media reports. Mr Abdygulov didn’t say whether Kyrgyzstan held substantial diamond reserves or not.

The Kyrgyz Central Bank has intervened 22 times this year in the currency market. This week it spent another $7m defending the som which at one point fell nearly 5% to an all-time low of around 79/$1. After the Central Bank intervention it rose back to around 74/$1.

The Central Bank’s reserves have fallen from $2.2b at the start of the year to about $1.7b now.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

China re-jigs ownership of Turkmenistan’s gas pipeline

NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — PetroChina, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned energy company CNPC, said it wants to sell a 50% stake in the Central Asia-China gas pipeline for $2.4b in order to turn a profit this year, a requirement in its government mandate.

The likely buyer of the 50% stake in the Central Asia-China pipeline is another Chinese company, state-owned China Reform Holdings, Bloomberg reported.

The ownership switch shouldn’t change operations at the pipeline, which mainly pumps gas from Turkmenistan, but its does highlight both China’s ownership of energy infrastructure in Central Asia and, also, how pressure on profits in China is having an impact in the region.

China’s economy has slowed this year, undermining commodities prices around the world and triggering a switch in policy from China across various industries. In the oil and gas sector, it plans to unbundle upstream and midstream operations, a process that will have an effect on oil and gas fields across Central Asia as well as on pipelines.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Tajik president to be given title of “Leader of the Nation”

NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon is about to add another title to his growing list of names. Already called “His Excellency”, he will now add the moniker “Leader of the Nation”.

A group of deputies of the lower chamber of parliament have submitted a draft law proposing that Mr Rakhmon take this title.

One of the proposers of the bill, Abdurahim Kholikzoda told local media that the draft has been prepared because of a groundswell of support from ordinary Tajiks who want to honour their president and everything he has achieved.

“This is a tribute to the merits of the outstanding son of the Tajik people, President Emomali Rakhmon, and for his services to the country and the people of the country,” media quoted Mr Kholikzoda as saying.

Mr Kholikzoda has a track record of lavishly praising Mr Rakhmon. Once head of the State Religion Committee of Tajikistan, he called Mr Rakhmon “the sun” and “the star of happiness” earlier this year.

Many ordinary Tajik are suspicious, though, and suspect that Mr Rakhmon’s new title is a crude attempt to curry favour.

A Dushanbe resident called Farhod said: “We have the lowest economic development in the post- Soviet space, our migrants are dying in Russia, our families are freezing in areas without electricity or poisoned by carbon monoxide of coal, corruption is developed, and the list can go on.

“However, what are our MPs doing? They compete to invent such laws to get the attention of the President. I am speechless.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)