NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Chinese Doublestar Tire will build a $110m tyre plant in the city of Oksemen (Ust-Kamenogorsk) in north-east Kazakhstan. Local company Kazindustriservis will be Doublestar’s partner and will own 72.5% of the joint venture. The plant will become Doublestar’s manufacturing hub for exports to other former Soviet Union countries.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Dubai-based Dragon Oil said it was considering investing in the proposed TAPI gas pipeline project which aims to deliver gas from Turkmenistan to India, an important show of Western support for the often derided project.
As reported in the FT, Dragon Oil said it has started talks with Turkmenistan over an investment in TAPI, a pipeline that will stretch 1,700km across Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“This [discussions on TAPI] has been ongoing for a long time. But now it’s very serious, things have been signed between the countries. That’s why we have shown our interest to go in,” Faisal Rabee Al Awadhi, general manager for Dragon Oil in Turkmenistan, told the FT at an oil and gas conference in Ashgabat.
Dragon Oil didn’t say what stage its negotiations with Turkmenistan were at, how much it was considering investing or when a final decision would be made. Other, bigger, Western oil and gas companies have decided not to invest in TAPI.
Dragon Oil already operates an oil field in Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan’s state-owned gas company Turkmengas is the project leader for TAPI, which is slated to cost $10b.
Construction is supposed to start in December but it is a controversial project. Concern over security – the route crosses territory fought over by central government forces and the Taliban – has raised serious questions over whether the pipeline will ever be built at all.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Azerbaijani miner Anglo Asian Mining said it produced and shipped the first batch of copper concentrate from its Gedabek mine in the west of the country. Through the new copper flotation plant, inaugurated in October, the company aims to return to profitability, Reza Vaziri, the Anglo Asian’s CEO said in a statement. The market had a lukewarm reaction, and its share price in London remained at 5.13p.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s parliament approved a budget designed to both limit spending during a period of low oil prices and target a national deficit that has crept up to a 10-year-high.
Perhaps with this in mind, the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Ka- zyna announced plans to cap pay and close 33 of its 36 overseas offices and the Central Bank said that it would slow work on building a state-of-the- art data centre in Astana.
The government’s budget for 2016-18 acknowledged that economic growth had stalled and would measure only 1.2% this year, its lowest rate since 2009 — the height of the Global Financial Crisis.
It also specifically wanted to target a deficit which has grown to around 3% of GDP, its highest in the past decade.
Presenting the government’s budget, PM Karim Massimov acknowledged the severity of the economic challenge.
“On December 8, the government will adopt an anti-crisis programme for the next three years. We will unite all previous economic programmes under a new umbrella,” Mr Massimov told the Senate.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev later confirmed he will address the nation on Nov. 30 on plans to tackle to the growing economic malaise.
The new budget forecasts oil prices to remain within the $40- 50/barrel range and the tenge to remain stable at around 300/$1.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – An internet video allegedly produced by the Islamic extremist group IS called on Muslims living in Georgia to overthrow the government and set up a caliphate.
Speaking in Georgian, a group of fighters brandishing Kalashnikovs and wearing Islamic headdress referenced Georgia’s involvement in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I would like to address the faithless people living in Georgia that have been fighting Islam for a long time. Everybody who has acted against Islam, no matter in Iraq or Afghanistan, will be judged by God’s law,” one of the fighters said.
“You consider yourselves to be very far from Caliphate, thinking we cannot reach Georgia but I would like to remind you of the period when Caliphate was established in Georgia.”
This is the first direct threat made by IS against Georgia.
The Georgian security services have warned that IS has stepped up its recruitment in Georgia, and specifically in the Pankisi Gorge in the north of the country, which is home to Muslim ethnic Chechens.
The day before the IS video surfaced, security forces said they had arrested a 29-year-old Georgian citizen living in the Pankisi Gorge on terrorism related charges. It has also strengthened border checks.
Georgia is an overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian country. It has been an enthusiastic supporter of US action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Georgia wants to join NATO and views its involvement in both wars as an extension of its diplomatic policy by showcasing its loyalty.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov flew to Tehran for the third Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), sometimes dubbed the OPEC of gas, taking the normally reclusive state into the mainstream.
Generally unwilling to participate in international organisations, Turkmenistan accepted an invitation from GECF to attended its forum as a guest. Mr Berdymukhamedov’s acceptance of the invitation showed that he wants to play a deeper role in shaping global energy prices and policy.
A disparate group of 12 major gas exporting countries, the GECF meets biannually to try to set the agenda for world gas prices. In contrast to OPEC, a group of oil exporting countries, it has little power to influence price or sway production plans.
Gas prices are generally indexed to oil prices.
At the Forum, Mr Berdymukhamedov also held a side meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani. Russian president Vladimir Putin also attended the forum.
According to Simon Pirani, senior researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Turkmenistan’s activity at the Forum had a diplomatic, rather than commercial tone. He said Turkmenistan remain fixed to its China-centric export strategy.
“Exports to Russia will remain low, which will preserve relations with Russia, but there is not much that Turkmenistan can do in the short term to diversify its exports, especially due to its traditional policy of selling gas at the border,” Mr Pirani told the Bulletin.
GECF is a high profile, but still relatively impotent group. It aspires to hold the influence that OPEC wields but is more of a talking shop.
Members of GECF are Iran, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru have observer status.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR said it produced 5.76b cubic metres of gas in the first 10 months of the year, down 5.5% compared to last year. Oil and gas exports are vital to the Azerbaijani economy.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Nar Mobile brand of Azerbaijan’s telecoms company Azerfon said it has expanded 3G and 4G coverage in the country. Kent McNeley, Azerfon’s CEO, said the company has doubled its total network capacity in the past two years. Nar Mobile was awarded a licence to operate LTE networks earlier in February.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, doubled a jail sentence for Rashod Qori Kamolov, a Muslim Imam, to 10 years after an appeal by a local prosecutor. Kamolov was sentenced earlier this year for inciting religious discord. Kyrgyzstan and other coun- tries in Central Asia are wary of the spread of radical Islam.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)
NOV. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Central Banks in the South Caucasus and Central Asia have had a rough year. Keeping up with the strengthening dollar and the falling rouble while monitoring inflation has been a tough test.
In an attempt to stick together during the economic downturn, some of the central bankers appear to have decided to use old infrastructure to continue their meetings and coordinate policies.
Confusion, however, clouds the various structures that are still in place.
The new body which met in Almaty this week was renamed the Eurasian Council of Central Bank Chiefs and is a spin-off of the now- defunct Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC).
It doesn’t overlap with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) because Armenia is not in it and is no longer representative of the old EurAsEC, which officially closed down last year, as Uzbekistan is not a member.
And this says a lot about just how confusing economic integration has been in the region.
Since the EurAsEC was disbanded, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has become the integrationist body. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia are part of the EEU.
So why brand it as EurAsEC? Why is Armenia out of the picture?
“Pressing economic questions” are the rationale behind this new body, according to Kazakhstan’s Central Bank.
The countries that form the new body are all in the midst of an economic crisis, but so are other countries that were not invited to the Eurasian banking council.
With the EEU in place and Tajikistan lined up to become a member, the decision to revive such a strange body, rather than another, is difficult to understand.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)