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Fuel and electricity shortages trigger protests in Uzbekistan

DEC. 4 (The Bulletin) — Fuel and electricity shortages in rural Uzbekistan have triggered a series of rare protests, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Video on the RFE/RL website showed cars queuing for hours to refill with cheap gas. Other video footage from the western region of Karakalpakstan showed women huddled around a bonfire in the street protesting against gas to their homes being cut off. Over the past couple of years Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev has opened Uzbekistan up but anti-government protests are still rare.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

Azerbaijan buys mulberry trees from China

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DEC. 6 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has bought 1m mulberry trees from China for an undisclosed amount, media reported, part of a plan to increase mulberry production across the country. The Azerbaijani government has already bought 3.5m mulberry trees from China. It has been working on a government plan to increase agriculture’s part in its economy.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

China eyes up $545m investment into Tajikistan’s Talco

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DUSHANBE/Dec. 4 (The Bulletin) –China is lining up a $545m investment to buy a stake in the Talco aluminium smelter, Tajikistan’s biggest industrial unit.

Yue Bin, China’s former ambassador to Tajikistan, told the Tajik language version of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the investment, announced earlier this year, would be paid for by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to help modernise the Soviet-era plant.

“In my opinion, the joint venture will benefit both parties, both in terms of creating new jobs, and in terms of increasing production capacity and volume of production, sales of products and, ultimately, tax revenues to the state budget of Tajikistan,” he was quoted as saying.

Talco has not comment, neither has the Chinese government nor the Tajik government but in November Talco was converted into a joint stock company, which should make it easier to sell stakes in. This year it was announced that China would invest $545m into Talco to modernise the Soviet-era factory, although it wasn’t explained at the time how this investment would be paid for.

The potential deal highlights what many analysts have described as an economic takeover of Tajikistan by China. In return for political influence, China has given Tajikistan cheap loans to build new roads and tunnels, construct cement factories and beautify Dushanbe. Chinese companies now own various mining rights in Tajikistan and earlier this year reports surfaced that it had built a military base in the Pamir Mountains.

The ownership structure of Talco if opaque. Officially it is owned by the Tajik government although there are close links to the presidential family. Talco also has a management company based in the BVI.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

Court case begins against TBC Bank founders in Georgia

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DEC. 2 (The Bulletin) — The court case against TBC Bank founder Mamuka Khazarde and his deputy Badri Japaridze for corruption and money laundering began in Tbilisi. Both men deny the charges which they have said are politically motivated. TBC Bank is one of Georgia’s biggest banks and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

Inflation in Kazakhstan is building, says Central Bank

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DEC. 9 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank kept interest rates at 9.25% and warned that inflationary pressure was building. It said that the weak tenge, which is bumping along at all-time lows, and a growing current account deficit was an inflation risk. Inflation is currently at around 5.5% but is expected to rise to 6% next year. >>See page 8 for more
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

Kumtor expects to produce more gold this year than anticipated

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BISHKEK/Nov. 30 (The Bulletin) –Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s biggest gold mine and the cornerstone of its economy, will produce more gold this year than expected.

In a statement, the Kyrgyz government said that Kumtor, which is owned by Canada’s Centerra Gold, would produce 18.2 tonnes of gold, beating an initial target of 16.6-17.6 tonnes.

This is critical for Kyrgyzstan which relies on Kumtor to generate around 10% of its annual GDP.

Separately, Centerra Gold, said that two employees were missing after a landslide near the open-pit mine. Mining had been halted to search for the two workers.
Kyrgyzstan owns a 26.6% stake in Centerra Gold.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

Armenia plans large public spending increases in 2020

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DEC. 9 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s draft budget for 2020 has been dubbed the “revolutionary” budget that PM Nikol Pashynian has always planned. At its core, the budget calls for a large increase in spending matched by an increase in taxation. Reporting on the budget, Eurasianet said that it represented a 14% increase in spending compared to this year.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

France’s Orano signs deal to mine for uranium in Uzbekistan

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DEC. 3 (The Bulletin) — French nuclear company Orano signed a deal with the Uzbek government to set up a joint-venture called Nurlikum Mining. Nurlikum, which is 51% owned by Orano and 49% owned by the Uzbek government, will mine for uranium in the Djengeldi area in the province of Kyzylkum.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

Tajikistan blocks major Russian remittance services

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DUSHANBE/Dec. 4 (The Bulletin) –Tajikistan’s Central Bank blocked Koronapay and Western Union, two of the most popular money transfer services with Tajiks working in Russia, from sending cash into the country and instead insisted that people use two smaller services.

Earlier this year, the Tajik Central Bank took over control of the country’s transfer sorting system with, it now appears, the aim of controlling which services migrant workers use to send their cash home.

In a terse statement, the Tajik Central Bank said that it was only processing payments from the Unistream and Contact wire transfer systems.

“In future credit organisations will not consider the 9-digit code of the payment system Golden Crown,” it said.

Golden Crown is the brand name used by Koronapay which had sent an estimated 80% of Tajikistan’s remittances from Russia.

The following day the Central Bank published photos of a meeting with Unistream’s chief Kirill Palchun and said that commissions on wire transfers had been reduced from 1.5% to 0.99%.
Both Unistream and Contact are Russian money transfer systems but are far smaller than Western Union and Koronapay.

Analysts have said that the Tajik government may have wanted to take control of the wire transfer system because it is a lucrative cash generator. Tajiks working in Russia contribute up to half of the country’s GDP.

The Tajik Central Bank has previously said that it had taken over the transfer sorting system to protect customers from theft and corruption.

It also defended its decision to strip Koronapay and Western Union of permission to send cash from Russia because they had failed to comply with new legislation.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019

UAE’s Masdar signs deal to build solar farm in Armenia

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DEC. 3 (The Bulletin) — Masdar, the UAE-based renewable energy company, signed a deal with the Armenian government to build a solar farm in the west of the country with a power generation capacity of 400MW. Masdar has been winning renewable energy projects across the region.
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— This story was first published in issue 431 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 9 2019