Author Archives: Editor

Georgia gives Anaklia partners more time to name financers

DEC. 17 2019 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government extended to Dec. 31 a deadline for the partners developing the Anaklia port on the Black Sea to submit new loan agreements after they missed a Dec. 16 deadline. The Anaklia was supposed to be the biggest infrastructure project built in Georgia, opening it up to more East-West cargo traffic, but instead each side has accused the other of undermining progress. The partners are TBC Holding, the US’ SSA Marine, Britain’s Wondernet Express and Bulgaria’s G-Star.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Hungary’s Wizz Air to start flying from Armenia

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YEREVAN/DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) –Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it was setting up new routes to Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport from Vilnius and Vienna, going head-to-head with Ryanair which will also start flying to the Armenian capital next year.

Wizz Air was the first European budget airline to expand into the South Caucasus when it set up operations out of Georgia’s second city of Kutaisi in 2016. Since then its routes to Kutaisi have spanned out across Europe. Georgian politicians hold up Wizz Air as a foreign investment success story that has created jobs and helped the tourism sector.

Announcing its new routes on Twitter, Wizz Air said: “This magical country has brought us more than just one of America’s most famous reality families. From the world’s oldest winery to a record-breaking cable car to chess masters, it’s time to uncover the true hospitality this country has to offer.”

Reuters quoted Wizz Air as saying that it expected the two twice-weekly routes to start up in April 2020.

For Armenian aviation officials, the start of Wizz Air flights from Zvartnots represents another success after they persuaded Ryanair to start flying from Armenia. Footfall at Armenian airports rose 9% this year.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Kyrgyzstan bans uranium mining

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DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov signed into law a decree that bans uranium mining. Earlier this year protests against uranium mining started up in Bishkek. Uranium waste heaps, a legacy of Soviet mining, scar parts of the Kyrgyz countryside.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Dozens of anti-government protesters arrested in Kazakhstan

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DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) — Police in Kazakhstan arrested dozens of people in Nur Sultan and Almaty for protesting in favour of political reform and also against the continued influence of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. In March this year, Mr Nazarbayev announced his retirement as president but said he would still influence the government through his position as chairman of the National Security Council. There has been a large number of anti-government protests in Kazakhstan this year.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Petrofac and Socar JV win BP deal in Azerbaijan

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DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) — Jersey-registered oil and gas services company Petrofac said that it had won a contract, alongside its joint-venture partner, the Azerbaijani state oil and gas company SOCAR, to work with BP at its Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field, in the Caspian Sea, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Petrofac did not put a value on the deal but did say that it would run for three years.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

China increases business influence in Uzbekistan

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DEC. 15 2019 (The Bulletin) — Highlighting the increased reach of Chinese companies in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek State Statistics Committee said that there were 1,611 Chinese companies registered in the country as of Dec. 1. Only Russia, the Statistics Committee said, had more companies operating in Uzbekistan. It also said that last year Uzbekistan-China bilateral trade increased by 48.4% to $6.26b.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Kazakhstan to start assembling helicopters from Russia

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DEC. 15 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan Engineering will begin assembling 17 Russian Mi-171 transport helicopters next year, the Kazakh government said in a statement. All 17 helicopters will be manufactured in Russia and will be bought by either Kazakhstan’s National Guard or its Emergencies Ministry. Kazakhstan Engineering described the deal as a “significant step in the development of Kazakhstan’s helicopter industry”.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Turkey’s Pegasus completes sale of Air Manas stake

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DEC. 14 2019 (The Bulletin) — Turkish budget airline Pegasus Airlines has completed the sale of its 49% stake in Air Manas, a Kyrgyz airline, to Belfast-registered AviaTrade for 99,000 euros, online media reported by quoting Kyrgyzstan’s civil aviation authority. Air Manas currently operates one aircraft between Bishkek and Osh. It is unclear who is behind AviaTrade. It was registered in January 2018 but has yet to file any accounts at Companies House, the British corporate registry.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Ukraine extradites Aliyev critic before presidential visit

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DEC. 14 2019 (The Bulletin) — Ahead of a presidential trip to Azerbaijan, Ukraine detained and deported Elvin Isayev, a critic of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev known for his coarse use of Youtube videos to attack the First Family. Mr Isayev, who is shunned by most mainstream opposition figures, had moved to Ukraine earlier this year from Russia. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, flew to Baku two days after Mr Isayev’s extradition.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Azerbaijan revises down inflation estimate and cuts interest rates

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DEC. 13 2019 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Central Bank revised down its inflation estimate for this year to 2.8% – 3% from an earlier prediction of 4% and cut its key interest rate to 7.5% from 7.75%. Azerbaijan’s Central Bank has been steadily cutting its key interest rate since the start of 2018 when it measured 15%. It devalued its currency by 50% in 2015 when global oil prices collapsed.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019