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Extremists claim to control Tajik border

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Islamic Jihad Union, an Al- Qaeda splinter group, said that it now controlled part of the border zone with Tajikistan and Afghanistan. This claim could not be independently verified but the media did say that the Islamic Jihad Union had reportedly released photos of armed men around the Amu Darya river on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

ENDS

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

Uzbekistan sends uranium to Russia

SEPT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said a batch of highly enriched uranium had been flown out of Uzbekistan to a site in Russia. The IAEA oversaw the project to remove the highly enriched uranium from a Tashkent research lab.

ENDS

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

Kyrgyzstan increases interest rate

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank increased its key interest rate by 2% to 10% to combat rising inflation. The Kyrgyz interest rate has yo-yoed this year. It started at 10.5%, rose to 11%, was cut to 9.5% and then to 8% before being increased again.

ENDS

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

Kyrgyzstan wants China to enter its banking sector

SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Looking to court China, Kyrgyzstan’s deputy PM Valery Dil said China should buy one of the country’s commercial banks. China is a vital investor for Central Asian states.

ENDS

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

Markets: Interest rates up in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia

OCT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The three countries in the Central Asia and South Caucasus region with currencies floating freely (or partially so) have all increased their key interest rate.

Kazakhstan was the last to do so, bringing its key interest rate to 16% from the previous level of 12%. The 12% mark had only been set at the start of September, highlighting just how seriously the Kazakh Central Bank had underestimated the threat from inflation in its initial calculations. The Kyrgyz Central Bank raised its benchmark rate to 10%, up by 2 percentage points. Last week, Georgia increased rates to 7% from 6%.

The bottom line is that all three countries fear inflation. Kyrgyzstan has tried to hold off, while the Central Bank intervened lightly in the currency market to defend the som, but both foreign trade and remittances from abroad have declined, putting the Kyrgyz economy in an uncomfortable position.

Although probably necessary, these measures might not be enough to avoid climbing inflation in the coming months.

ENDS

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

Stock market: KAZ Minerals, Central Asia Metals

OCT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mining companies dominated the news this week from stock markets selling shares in Central Asian and South Caucasian companies.

London-listed KAZ Minerals lost 30% in one week before rising slightly to 91p. What was striking, though, was that the trade volume surpassed 25m shares, a weekly turnaround that was only seen during a surge in August and during another sharp fall in mid-January.

Central Asia Metals was essentially stable this week in London at around 155-158p.

Toronto-listed Centerra Gold fell again. This week, the Kyrgyzstan- focused mining company lost around 6% to end the week at 7.29 Canadian dollars.

Central Asia-focused oil companies showed mixed results. Nostrum Oil & Gas shares lost around 4% this week, down to 462p. This fall was linked to the ongoing saga with Tethys Petroleum on the takeover.

Kazakhstan-focused Roxi Petroleum performed well this wekek, as it climbed back to 10p, an 18% surge in seven days, triggered by the positive interim results for H1 2015 it published on Sept. 29.

ENDS

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

Armenian billionaire buys electricity network from Inter RAO

YEREVAN, SEPT. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a surprise move, Russian state-owned electricity company Inter RAO sold the Armenian utility company Electric Networks of Armenia JSC (ENA) to Tashir Group, a Russian real estate holding owned by Armenian-born billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.

ENA is the 100% owner of Armenia’s electricity distribution network giving Mr Karapetyan major influence in his homeland where electricity has become a political issue. This year Forbes Russia ranked him as the 26th richest person in Russia with an estimated wealth of $4b.

The sale provides Inter RAO with an exit from Armenia where it had wanted to increase the price of electricity by 17% to make up for the drop in the value of the dram currency. This price increase angered people and thousands demonstrated in Yerevan, forcing the government to promise to subsidise prices.

Rumours that Inter RAO were looking for a buyer had been circulating since mid-September and had focused on Mr Karapetyan. He confirmed the deal in short statement.

“Tashir Group takes full responsibility for the management of the ENA,” he said.

Mr Karapetyan is the brother of Karen, a member of the Armenian parliament.

He immediately promised that his purchase of ENA would not mean that electricity price rises were back on the agenda.

“On a parity basis with the government of Armenia, the company will [compensate part of] the difference between tariffs before and after indexation on Aug. 1 2015,” he said.

And the deal had the backing of the Armenian government which wanted to reduce anti-Russia sentiment that had built up over the proposed electricity price rises. Russia is a key ally of Armenia.

Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan said: “Meeting with our request, within a short period of time Tashir group negotiated and signed a contract with Inter RAO for the purchase of energy assets, for which we express our gratitude.”

Details of the deal were not disclosed. Tashir Group has a high profile in Armenia. It owns around three dozen shopping malls, hotels and office blocks in Russia and Armenia, including one which houses 400 birds, reptile and amphibians.

ENDS

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

Azerbaijan’s manat declines

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pressure is building on Azerbaijan’s Central Bank to allow its manat currency to decline gently rather than prop it up by spending billions of its US dollar reserves. Vahid Ahmadov, an MP and deputy head of parliament’s economy committee, questioned the current US dollar peg for the manat. The CBank devalued the manat by a third in Feb.

ENDS

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

KMG EP appoints new “tech savvy” CEO

ALMATY, SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an effort to re-invigorate itself, London-traded KMG EP appointed the tech-savvy Kurmangazy Iskaziyev as its new CEO.

KMG EP is the upstream branch of Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company Kazmunaigas. The company’s earnings have dropped because of low oil prices and a decline in production. Some upstream operations have been suspended.

Mr Iskaziyev replaces Abat Nurseitov, who was CEO when the company needed to generate cash quickly. It sold its stake in the Kashagan oil project and issued Eurobonds to raise capital.

Christopher Hopkinson, KMG EP’s chairman, said Mr Iskaziyev was a veteran of the company, having served as the CEO of Embamunaigas.

“Mr Iskaziyev has extensive experience in applying new technologies and increasing production efficiency,” Mr Hopkinson said.

ENDS

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

Oil field in Kazakhstan to stop expansion

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s deputy energy minister Uzakbai Karabalin said Tengizchevroil (TCO) could freeze its expansion project due to low oil prices. TCO is the consortium, lead by the US’ Chevroil, developing the Tengiz oil field in West Kazakhstan. TCO accounts for roughly one-third of Kazakhstan’s oil production. Freezing the upgrade project may have a significantly negative effect on Kazakhstan’s oil output.

ENDS

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