Category Archives: Uncategorised

Analysts place Bank of Georgia shares on a ‘buy’ rating

FEB. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shares in the Bank of Georgia rose by more than 50% last year to a peak of 380/$1 in mid-December. Since then they have come off the boil slightly hitting a three-month low of 312/$1 on Jan. 12.

Now, though, things appear to be picking up again. The Bank of Georgia’s share price measured 350/$1 on Feb. 2 and analysts predicted more growth. London- based brokerage Peel Hunt said Bank of Georgia’s subsidiary Georgia Healthcare looked good this year and was likely to see profits rise.

“We update our model to incorporate the strong growth expected in Georgia Healthcare’s profitability,” the broker said, explaining that it had given Bank of Georgia a ‘buy’ rating.

It also said that Georgia’s macroeconomic outlook looked good for Bank of Georgia.

“In addition, we continue to expect Bank of Georgia to benefit from underlying Georgian economic growth, supporting the core Banking division,” the brokerage said.

Last month, Georgia’s Central Bank chief Giorgi Kadagidze said that Georgia’s GDP would grow by more than 4% because of tax cuts, an infrastructure investment plan and a free-trade deal with China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kazkom and Halyk Bank agree merger

Azerbaijani court sentences 17 for links to Muslim group

JAN. 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Baku sentenced 17 people to up to 20 years in prison for plotting to overthrow the government and for trafficking. The men, 16 of them described as members of a group called Muslim Unity, were all arrested in a suburb of Baku in December 2015. The suburb was renowned for its pious nature. Police cordoned off the area during the arrests which triggered a shootout in which six people were killed. Rights protesters have called the trial a sham and a show trial.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Gazprom to buy Kazakh gas

JAN. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s Gazprom will buy 12.8b cubic metres of gas from Kazakhstan in 2017 continuing its strategy of preferring Kazakh gas suppliers over other regional companies. Kazmunaigas has boosted its cooperation with Gazprom over the past few years while other state companies linked to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have lost ground.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Dutch chip maker to set up plant in Kazakhstan

JAN. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Dutch potato chip manufacturer Farm Frites is considering setting up a plant in northeast Kazakhstan, Kazakh deputy PM Askar Myrzakhmetov, Kazakh deputy PM and agriculture, said. Farm Frites supplies frozen potato chips to restaurants. A deal with Koktem Agricultural services, the company it is negotiating with, would give the Kazakh government a boost as it has said it wants to diversify away from oil and gas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)f

Halyk Bank starts talk with Kazkommertsbank

JAN. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ending weeks of speculation, Halyk Bank, owned by the son-in-law and daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said that it had started talks with Kazkommertsbank, the country’s biggest bank, on merging. A potential merger between the two banks would create a company that would dominate the Kazakh banking sector with a market share of around 40%. Unnamed sources in November 2016 had told Reuters that a merger between the two banks was being discussed in secret.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Armenia and Russia to set up new airline

JAN. 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia and Armenia are likely to set up a new airline to fly routes between Yerevan and Moscow, Vahan Martirosyan, Armenia’s communications and technology minister, was quoted as saying. Armenia has been without a national flag-carrier since 2013 when Armavia was declared bankrupt. The privately-owned Armenia, a low-cost airline, started flights last year to Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Kyrgyz civil leaders criticise crackdown on Facebook as an “invasion of human rights”

BISHKEK, JAN. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Rights groups and civil society leaders in Kyrgyzstan have criticised the government for moves to monitor Facebook for comments critical of the president.

The row centres on the Kyrgyz National Security Committee’s (GKNB) move to identify and monitor 45 Facebook users who have criticised President Almazbek Atambayev. Facebook in Kyrgyzstan is one of the few mediums ordinary people use to express political opinions.

But Klara Sooronkulova, a former judge of the Constitutional Court who was sacked in 2015 because of a disagreement with Parliament over the use of people’s biometrics data said the move was wrong. “It is invasion of privacy and violation of human rights,” she told The Conway Bulletin.

A Bishkek analyst who preferred to remain anonymous said politics may be motivating the clampdown.

“The next presidential elections are coming [ in October],” he said. “They are taking measures to control chaos by trying to control who criticises the President.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Kazakh authorities arrest union leaders

JAN. 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The New York-based Human Rights Watch criticised the Kazakh authorities for arresting two union leaders on Jan. 20 for allegedly organising a hunger strike by oil workers earlier in the year against the closure of a union confederation structure. The two union leaders, Amin Yeleusinov, and Nurbek Kushakbayev, have been placed in pretrial detention. The Kazakh government wants to reduce the power of the unions, who they blame for a series of strikes since 2011.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)

Armenian opposition forms block

JAN. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The leaders of Armenia’s three main genuine opposition parties — the Republican party, Bright Armenia and Civil Contract — have confirmed that they will fight a parliamentary election set for April as a united opposition bloc. The bloc is called Yelik, Way Out. Leaders of Yelik said that they are in negotiations with the Heritage party, the fourth main opposition party, for it join too.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)f