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Kazakhstan’s airline leases 4 Airbus

OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — AerCap, a Netherlands-based aircraft leasing company, will provide four Airbus to Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flagship airline. Angus Kelly, AerCap’s CEO, said the new aircrafts will be mainly used for Air Astana’s long range flights between Asia and Europe. In June, Air Astana also agreed a deal with AerCap to lease seven Airbus aircrafts starting in 2016.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Azerbaijan orders ferries for the Caspian

OCT. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – An Azerbaijani shipping company is ordering three passenger ferries to run a new route across the Caspian Sea, evidence that the Caspian is becoming an important transport route for people and goods. Media quoted Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company as saying that each ferry would carry 80 people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Azerbaijan’s oil output falls in BTC

OCT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil flows through the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan pipeline fell by 1% in the first nine months of 2015 compared to the same period last year, an unnamed source at Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR told Reuters. Oil output in Azerbaijan has been falling over the past few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Uzbek migration to RU falls

OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Data from the Russian Migration Service showed a 17% fall in Uzbek migration into Russia during the first 9 months of 2015 compared to the same period last year. The economic downturn in Russia and the fall in the rouble-dollar exchange rate have discouraged Uzbek workers from travelling to Russia for jobs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Turkmen President reshuffles top officials

OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reshuffled his top security officials, according to state media. Begench Gundogdiyev, minister of defence, was demoted to head of the navy. The head of the national security service, Yaylym Berdiyev was appointed as the new defence minister.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Uzbekistan places general under house arrest

OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan have placed a senior general under house arrest after allegations of corruption were levied against him by Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, media reported.

If Ms Karimova is the source of the allegations it shows that she may still hold influence in Uzbekistan where she has been held under house arrest since March 2014.

The story also shows just how deep the extent of corruption in Uzbekistan is.

The interned general is Hayot Sharifhojayev, who oversaw the corruption investigation into Ms Karimova and her associates, giving her plenty of motive for revenge.

According to a report published by the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Gen. Sharifhojayev was arrested in July and has now been placed under house arrest.

The report said that he had been caught trying to sell assets which he had confiscated from Ms Karimova, although it didn’t specify what exactly he was trying to sell.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Tethys shareholders reject Kazakh companies’ final buy-out offer

ALMATY, OCT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Nostrum Oil & Gas withdrew its offer to buy Tethys Petroleum, ending hopes of a merger between the two Kazakhstan- focused companies.

Shortly after Nostrum announced it had scrapped its bid, Kazakhstan- based AGR Energy submitted an offer to buy a large chunk of equity in Tethys for a premium. The AGR offer, helped Tethys shares rebound by 12% on the Canadian stock market.

Earlier the final word on the long- running Nostrum bid came from Tethys’ largest shareholder, Pope Asset Manager. It said it did not support the latest offer of 0.147 Canadian dollars per share that would have valued the company at $49.5m.

Nostrum had tried to buy Tethys’ shares for two months but a deal slipped away as the sustained oil price collapse ate into the value of energy companies in general and Tethys shares in particular.

Both companies have their main operations in Kazakhstan. The value of their assets has decreased due to the weakening Kazakh tenge against the US dollar.

Nostrum’s withdrawal was an opportunity for AGR, a company linked to the Assaubayev family. It put in an offer of $20m for a large portion of Tethys’ equity, valuing shares at 0.165 Canadian dollars. In addition, AGR also proposed a $5m loan to support short-term liquidity and the option of buying more shares.

Earlier in August, Tethys failed to conclude a $47.7m refinancing deal with AGR, which would have granted the Kazakh company a controlling stake in Tethys.

The Assaubayev family was involved in Kazakhstan’s gold sector but has since switched its focus to oil. In August 2014, it invested $62.5m into British company Max Petroleum becoming a 51% shareholder.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Armenia keeps interest rates high

OCT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia will keep its interest rate at 10.25% or higher in the medium term to beat rising inflation and maintain stability, media quoted Nerses Yeritsyan, deputy chairman of Armenia’s Central Bank, as saying. Regional pressures have dented economic growth across the S.Caucasus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Business comment: Analysts see oil output drop

OCT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the past few months of tumbling oil prices, analysts have discussed Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and debated whether they could keep oil production steady.

The PRIX index, a young and fully independent barometer of the 20 major oil exporting countries, forecasts a fall in oil exports in Q4 2015 for both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, a stark change after a positive forecast in Q3 2015.

PRIX’s methodology is simple, as it collects forecasts on oil exports from around 300 analysts around the world. It has rapidly gained credibility due to the volume of data it generates.

John Friedman, analytical advisor at PRIX, said: “We’re still in a bear market for oil.”

He noted that exporters do not yet want to give in and cut exports despite low oil prices.

Indra Overland, project director at PRIX, said the situation in Azerbaijan was particularly worrisome.

“Oil production in Azerbaijan is clearly falling. This is due to resource depletion, though one could also argue that it is indirectly due to the unattractive climate for exploration and investment,” Mr Overland said.

Importantly, the PRIX index also highlights the agreement, or lack thereof, between the surveyed analysts. It is interesting to note that disagreement among analysts covering Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan has risen significantly, as oil prices and export data keep falling.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Grain harvest rise in Kazakhstan

OCT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan is on target to produce 17.3m tonnes of grain this year, up from the 17.1m tonnes produced last year, media reported quoting the agriculture ministry. Grain has become an important export commodity for Kazakhstan. The ministry also said it is trying to find more clients for its grain in SE Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)