Author Archives: Editor

British miner lists on Kazakhstan’s AIX

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ALMATY/Jan. 8 2020 (The Bulletin) — London-based Ferro-Alloy Resources said it had listed on the Astana International Exchange in Nur Sultan, part of the Astana International Finance Center project that is being pushed by the government.

Ferro-Alloy Resources already has a listing on the London Stock Exchange. Its main asset is the Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in southern Kazakhstan.

Nick Bridgen, the CEO of Ferro-Alloy Resources said: “We see the AIX as a strong platform that will allow the company to capture interest from investors who we expect to be encouraged by the AIX’s use of the English language and English law, and its compatibility with the rules of the London Stock Exchange.”

Analysts have said that government officials are pushing smaller companies looking to curry favour into listing on AIX, as the Astana International Exchange is called.

Since its launch to much fanfare by then-president Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2017, eight companies have placed shares on AIX, although there are three dozen or so other assets trading on the exchange, including bonds and GDRs. Most companies consider AIX an illiquid and unnecessary distraction.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Don’t send men back to China, HRW tells Kazakhstan

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JAN. 9 2020 (The Bulletin) — New York-based Human Rights Watch said that Kazakhstan should not extradite two ethnic Kazakhs accused of crossing the border illegally from China because they face the risk of torture or detention. HRW said that the two men, Kaster Musakhanuly and Murager Alimuly, had been escaping China’s crackdown on Muslims and that they should be given asylum.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Rakishev buys Kazakh insurance company

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JAN. 4 2020 (The Bulletin) — Fincraft Investment House, the finance company owned by Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev, said that it was close to completing the purchase of Amanat, a mid-sized Kazakh insurance company. Neither Fincraft or Amanat gave details on the cost of the deal. Mr Rakishev is one of Kazakhstan’s most high-profile businessmen.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Armenia approves increase in child benefits

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JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s government approved a six-fold rise in the cash payment given to families for having their first child in order to try to reverse the country’s falling birth rate. From July, a family will receive a 300,000 dram ($625) payment for the birth of their first and second children, six times higher than the current 50,000 drams for a first child and double the current 150,000 drams for a second child. Monthly child benefits will also be increased by 50% to 26,500 drams.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Kazakhstan and the US sign aviation deal

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JAN. 8 2020 (The Bulletin) — Air Astana has signed a deal with the US aviation authorities to fly directly from Kazakhstan to New York, media reported by quoting Kazakh officials. Although no details of when the first non-stop flights to the US from Kazakhstan will start were available, this is a deal that the Kazakh authorities have been looking to secure for some years. Aviation has become a major business in Central Asia with airlines competing to act as the link between Europe/the West and Asia.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Gulnara Karimova faces another trial

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JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s government approved a six-fold rise in the cash payment given to families for having their first child in order to try to reverse the country’s falling birth rate. From July, a family will receive a 300,000 dram ($625) payment for the birth of their first and second children, six times higher than the current 50,000 drams for a first child and double the current 150,000 drams for a second child. Monthly child benefits will also be increased by 50% to 26,500 drams.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

New domestic gas pipeline opens in Kazakhstan

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DEC. 27 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan completed construction of the Saryarka gas pipeline that will run from the Kyzylorda region to Nur Sultan. The pipeline is important as it will pump extra gas to Nur Sultan and other cities along the route, including Karaganda, Temirtau and Zhezkazgan. The project to build the 1,061km pipeline was launched to improve Kazakhstan’s energy infrastructure.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Armenia will become an important rail link, says Iran

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DEC. 31 2019 (The Bulletin) — Iranian officials said that the completion of a railway connecting Iran to Armenia will turn it into an important transit route along the new Silk Road stretching from China to Europe. Iranian media quoted the country’s deputy minister of road and urban development, Kheirollah Khademim, as saying that when the railway is being built from Tabriz and that “Armenia will also construct a highway that will turn it into an international corridor”. Armenia and Iran have been improving bilateral ties to offset both of their relative regional isolation.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

EuroChem to build fertiliser plant in Kazakhstan

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JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — EuroChem, the Russia-controlled and Switzerland-based chemical producer, signed a deal to build a $1b fertiliser plant in the Zhambyl region that it hopes will manufacture 1m tonnes of fertilisers every year, the Kazakh government reported through its official Astana Times newspaper. Kazakh officials said that the plant will create 2,000 jobs and will start operations in 2021. EuroChem already has mining operations in the Zhambyl region.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Value of Kazakhstan’s exports drops

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JAN. 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — The value of Kazakhstan’s exports dropped by 18% between January and September last year, a drop linked to lockdowns imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus and also a limit on oil production, imposed to try to prop up its price. The drop in exports will translate into a fall in income for Kazakhstan.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021