JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Ardshinbank signed a $35m loan facility deal with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), arranged through Citi. This is the second similar deal organised between the three banks. Adrshinbank is one of the biggest banks in Armenia and, like its rivals has increased funding to small and medium-sized businesses.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 23 (The Conway Bulletin) — A British man who fled to Georgia from a manslaughter trial in London in May 2018 handed himself in to Georgian police. Jack Shepherd, 31, was convicted in absentia of the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown when his speedboat capsized on the River Thames during a date in 2015. It took British police several months to track Shepherd down to Georgia where he had been living openly, going on dates and drinking in Tbilisi’s bars and nightclubs.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
TBILISI/Jan. 25 (The Conway Bulletin) — Investor business groups in Georgia described the perception of Georgia’s legal system as “extremely negative” in a letter to PM Mamuka Bakhtadze as a row over nominations for judges to the Supreme Court intensifies.
Georgian civic groups have also complained about the nominations of 10 judges to the Supreme Court in December by the High Court of Judges.
In the letter, the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia, the Business Association of Georgia, the EU Georgian Business Council and the International Chamber of Commerce in Georgia said the nominees have made “questionable decisions” in previous cases.
“The selection of Supreme Court judicial nominees, without a fair, transparent and predictable process reinforces the extremely negative perception of the Georgian judiciary and court system that is held by many observers,” the letter said.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 30 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan extradited to Turkey another alleged Gulenist, the group the Turkish government accuses of an attempted coup in 2016. Turkish media named the alleged Gulenist as Ibrahim E, the editor of a Gulen newspaper in Baku. Turkey has been applying pressure to its neighbours to extradite suspected Gulenist, followers of the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Azerbaijan, a strong Turkish ally, has been quick to acquiesce to Turkey’s demands. Others, such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, where Gulenists set up universities and schools in the post-Soviet 1990s, have been less keen.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 30 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan will sell off its transport network and cut funding to its Academy of Sciences in more cuts to public spending which are designed to keep its listing economy afloat.
In a decree published on Turkmen government websites, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that the changes were needed to modernise the Turkmen economy.
Last year, Mr Berdymukhamedov slashed subsidies on water, gas and electricity and also raised duties on alcohol and cigarettes. Although information is thin, analysts have said that the cutbacks are a response to Turkmenistan’s sluggish recovery from an economic downturn in 2014-17 linked to a collapse in energy prices. Gas is Turkmenistan’s main export.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 23 (The Conway Bulletin) — Qatar Airways said it had started flying cargo planes to Almaty, boosting the ambitions of Kazakhstan’s financial centre of becoming a major transit hub. Almaty will receive a Qatar cargo plane twice a week. First from Doha and then returning from Hong Kong back to Doha. Central Asian cities are looking to become trade hubs between Europe and East Asia.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan-focused oil producer Nostrum Oil & Gas said that it expected lower revenues in 2018 because of a 4% decline in production. The announcement by the AIM-listed producer follows 2018 results that already showed a sharp fall in production to 31,254 barrels of oil equivalent, down from 39,199 barrels in 2017.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Union has pledged 5m euros to help Uzbekistan join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Uzbek media reported. The pledge is more evidence of the EU’s support for reforms in Uzbekistan that have opened up the country. After 25 years of isolation under Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan is trying to open itself up to international trade.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 26 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mher Yegiazarian, 51, an Armenian politician, died in a pre-trail detention centre in Yerevan 52 days after going on hunger strike. Police had arrested Yegiazarian, vice-president of the small Armenian Eagles: United Armenia party, on Dec. 4 and charged him with extorting $10,000. He denied the charges and when on a hunger strike to protest them.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 23 (The Conway Bulletin) — For the first time, Uzbekistan said it will undertake a full inventory of its trees outside its forested areas. The inventory, which will last six months, will count, age and measure all the trees growing in public spaces. This inventory will be repeated every five years. Importantly, it reflects a greater emphasis on civil society in Uzbekistan since Shavkat Mirziyoyev took over as president in 2016.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019