Category Archives: Uncategorised

Kazakh CB to bail out commercial banks

AUG. 10 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank will write off bad loans held by the country’s commercial banks worth $1.8b to $3b through a bond purchasing programme, Olzhas Kizatov, head of its banking sector supervision department, told media. In essence this is a bail-out of the Kazakh banking sector. The Central Bank had estimated that 11% of the banks’ loan portfolio was considered bad but Mr Kizatov said that the real figure was higher.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Video shows Kazakh police brutality

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AUG. 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — A CCTV camera on a building in Pavlodar, northern Kazakhstan, captured a near 4 minute-long incident that human rights activists said showed just how brutal Kazakh police are. In the video, three unarmed men appear to resist arrest by at least five policemen. After a tussle, the men are wrestled to the ground beaten with a truncheon, kicked in the head and abdomen and are sprayed in the face with an unknown substance.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Air passenger numbers rise in Georgia

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AUG. 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — Passenger flow at Georgian airports has increased by nearly 50% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period in 2016, the civil aviation authority said in a report. Georgia has been experiencing a boom in tourism from the Middle East that has triggered a major increase in flights to and from the region. For Middle Eastern tourists, Georgia is an easily accessible lush and green country where they can escape the summer heat.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Moscow court halts Uzbek reporters extradition

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AUG. 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — A court in Moscow suspended the extradition of Uzbek journalist Khudberdi Nurmatov after he said that he would be tortured and killed if sent back to Uzbekistan. Mr Nurmatov is openly gay, a crime in Uzbekistan. He was detained by police in July for allegedly breaking immigration rules. He has lived in Moscow since 2011 and has been trying to claim asylum. Uzbekistan has one of the worst media freedom records in the world.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Tajikistan accuses Iran of meddling in civil war

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AUG. 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — A documentary aired on state TV in Tajikistan accused Iran of meddling in a civil war in the 1990s by sending in assassins to kill various political leaders. Iran immediately denied the allegations which threaten to undermine important Tajikistan-Iran relations. Tajikistan has been holding a series of events commemorating the end of the civil war that led to the rise of Emomali Rakhmon as president.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Berdy visits Azerbaijan

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AUG. 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov flew to Baku for talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that focused on efforts to feed Turkmen gas into the South Caucasus Energy Corridor that will pump supplies to Europe from the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan is looking for more export routes for its gas. Officially the two leaders signed a document promising to further their strategic partnership.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Remittances from Russia to Armenia rise

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AUG. 10 2017 (The Bulletin) — Remittances from Russia to Armenia increased by 15.5% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2016, the Armenian Central Bank said, an important indicator that the economics of the region are beginning to improve. In total, flows from Russia, an important hub for Armenian migrant workers, hit $408m between January and June. The economies of the region are partly reliant on Russia to generate wealth for migrant workers.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Azerbaijani sprinter wins 200m gold medal for Turkey

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AUG. 10 2017 (The Bulletin) — Competing for Turkey, Azerbaijan- born sprinter Ramil Guliyev won 200m gold at the World Athletics Championship in London.

The 27-year-old’s shock victory was Turkey’s only medal at the championship and a rare win for a track and field athlete from Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova, Olympic triple jump champion in 2012, also won a bronze medal.

A jubilant Guliyev did a lap of honour carrying both the Turkish and Azerbaijani flags. He competed for Azerbaijan until 2011 before switching to Turkey because he said that the Turkish facilities were better.

To win the 200m, Guliyev beat favourites Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa and Isaac Makwala of Botswana. “This is not a shock,” he was widely quoted as saying. “But it does not feel real.”

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was quick to congratulate Guliyev.

“I would like to note that for the first time, an Azerbaijani athlete becomes the world champion in athletics,” media quoted him as saying. “It is gratifying that you raised the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey following your victory. It shows that you are a patriot devoted to your people.”

Tajikistan’s Andrey Abduvaliyev is the only athlete competing for a Central Asia or South Caucasus state to become World Champion. He won Gold the hammer twice, in Stuttgart in 1993 and in Gothenburg in 1995.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Ex-Georgian President tours E. Europe

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AUG. 5 2017 (The Bulletin) — Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili embarked on a high-profile tour of eastern European states opposed to Russia only a few days after being stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship. Mr Saakashvili first visited Warsaw and Vilnius, delivering staunchly anti- Russian speeches in both cities. Mr Saakashvili was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship last month after falling out with President Petro Poroshenko.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Uzbekistan says to scrap exit visas

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TASHKENT, AUG. 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan will lift exit-visa requirements, media reported by quoting officials, potentially making it easier for millions of Uzbeks to travel abroad to find work.

Exit-visas are a hated hangover from the Soviet Union and, even if they were not difficult to obtain for most ordinary Uzbeks, were a reminder of the authoritarian nature of the regime. Scrapping them is another indication of the liberal reforms ushered in by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president since September 2016 when Islam Karimov died. He has also promised to change foreign currency controls and also to encourage more foreign investment, as well as relax social controls, such as laws stipulating when bars and restaurants have to close.

Uzbekistan, like the rest of Central Asia, is reliant on remittances sent back from Uzbeks working abroad to bolster its economy. Most of these remittance payments are sent back to Uzbekistan from Russia.

Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said a presidential decree on relaxing exit visas had already been drafted and government agencies were considering various pieces of legislation.

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(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)