Category Archives: Uncategorised

Kazakh President says ‘no’ to dynasty

ALMATY, NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Bloomberg News, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared to cautiously rule out a straight handover of power to a family member.

The 76-year-old leader also said that he would be prepared to govern for another five year term from 2020 if he felt well enough and had strong enough public support.

Speculation has been mounting for years over Mr Nazarbayev’s succession plans. Many analysts have suggested that Mr Nazarbayev’s eldest daughter, Dariga who is now a senator, may be being lined up to take over from him.

“I’m not envisaging succession for my children, I don’t think that’s a question for us,” he said. “Our transfer of power is spelled out by the constitution.”

This nuanced reply appears to suggest that Mr Nazarbayev’s successor will have to win power through an election, as the constitution states. Western vote monitors, though, have never judged an election in Kazakhstan to be either free or fair.

And, on the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election this month, Mr Nazarbayev said he was confident the incoming US President would mend US-Russia relations, a positive step forward for global international relations.

“The best democratisation, say of Russia and all countries, is to have the West in friendly relations with all of us,” he said.

Kazakhstan is dealing with a sharp economic downturn triggered by a collapse in oil prices and a recession in Russia. Mr Nazarbayev also said in the interview that he was looking to strengthen the banking system.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Azerbaijan expects economic growth

NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan expects its economy to grow by 1% in 2017 and 1.5% in 2018, a draft budget from the government seen by Reuters showed. The day before, the World Bank reiterated that it expected the economy to contract by 3% this year. Azerbaijan has been particularly hard hit by falling oil prices. Its economy is particularly oil-dependent.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

BGEO results on Georgia increase

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed investment holding BGEO posted a 24% growth in revenues in Q3, compared to the same period last year. BGEO’s main assets are Bank of Georgia and Georgia Healthcare Group (GHG). GHG accounted for the group’s largest growth rate. In the first nine months of the year, GHG posted revenues for 290.4m lari ($116.6), up 64.8% from 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Uzbek authorities free political prisoner

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek authorities freed from prison 72-year-old Samandar Kukanov, described by human rights groups as one of the country’s longest surviving political prisoners. Human rights activist also said that the authorities in Uzbekistan had released Tohar Haydarov, a convert to Christianity, who was jailed in 2000 on drug related charges. Mr Kukanov, who opposed former president Islam Karimov, was imprisoned for 20 years in 1994 on embezzlement charges. This sentence was extended by two years in 2004. The release of Mr Kukanov may have been timed to soften acting president Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s image before an election on Dec. 4.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Kazakhs cut out imported luxury goods to beat tough economic times

ALMATY/TARAZ, Kazakhstan, NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A stubborn, painful economic downturn has wiped 4% off the average Kazakhs’ purchasing power, the ranking.kz website reported, forcing people to cut out luxury items — especially those imported from abroad.

Aiganym Dosmail, who works in an advertising agency in Almaty, said that she had cut out on buying luxury items that had been imported and ballooned in price since the devaluation of the tenge last year.

“I optimise my spending. Previously, I bought a lot of unnecessary stuff and now I buy only those goods that last long and are good quality. It is of course sad that previously marsh- mallows cost 300 tenge and now they cost 800 tenge,” she told the Bulletin.

The tenge lost half its value last year after the government reluctantly cut its peg to the US dollar. Low oil prices and a recession in Russia had pressured the Kazakh economy, and others across the region, into currency devaluations and budget cuts.

Worst hit are importers of luxury goods. Most Kazakhs now can’t afford to buy the foreign goods that they could afford even a year earlier.

Unlike Ms Dosmail, Aigerim Zhanuzak’s hairdressing salon in Taraz in the south of the country has been far less affected. She said that most of her clients are self-styled middle class Kazakhs and that she hasn’t had to put up her costs because she doesn’t have may import costs.

“My salon is targeting middle income and higher class people which means the crisis doesn’t impact people when it comes to personal comfort. People always want to eat and lto ook good,” she said. “If we talk about the financial crisis in our town then it has hit the lower-income population. Goods have become more expensive, public transport as well, but salaries have not increased, unfortunately.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Armenian economy is broken, says new PM

NOV. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economy is virtually broken and needs major reform if it is going to survive, the country’s new PM Karen Karapetyan told Bloomberg in an interview.

Parachuted into the job in September after a series of crises pushed trust and credibility in the previous PM to near breaking point, Mr Karapetyan is the former Gazprom executive and former mayor of Yerevan, who President Serzh Sargsyan has tasked with transforming the Armenian economy.

Corruption and the dominance of a handful of well-connected oligarchs, who control most of the lucrative import businesses, need to be countered, Mr Karapetyan said.

“We’re proposing the most rapid change that’s possible,” he said. “We will create an even, competitive, level- playing field.”

And the ruling Republican party needs to do something fairly radical if it is going to have any chance of holding on to parliament after an election in May. In July this year, hundreds of young Armenians clashed with police in support of a group of gunmen who had captured a police station, highlighting frustration with the government.

In the interview, Mr Karapetyan also said that he wanted to cut government spending to halve the state deficit, a difficult objective if you also need to win votes.

“We also have external debt growing faster than the GDP growth and growing faster than revenues,’’ he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

The battle for Armenia’s water services

NOV. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Veolia and French rival Saur had been the two major bidders for a contract to unite Armenia’s water supply and sewage systems under one operator.

Prior to Veolia’s victory in the tender, the two companies had been evenly matched.

Veolia operates Yerevan Djur which supplies 1.1m people living in Armenia’s capital with water and waste services.

Since 2014, Saur has operated Armenian WSC, Lori WSC, Shirak WSC and Nor Akunk WSC which supply water and sewage services to 1m people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

White Cliff progresses in Kyrgyzstan mine

NOV. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Australian miner White Cliff said it had successfully drilled new holes in the quartz zone of its Aucu mine in Kyrgyzstan, recovering high grade ores that yielded significant gold and copper volumes. White Cliff owns a 89% stake in Aucu, which is located 350km west of Bishkek.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Azerbaijan to privatise IBA

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will privatise the International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest lender, in the first half of 2017, Rufat Aslanli, chairman of Azerbaijan’s financial supervisory agency, said. Azerbaijan’s ministry of finance owns 54.9% and the government- owned credit company Aqrar Kredit owns 27% in IBA. IBA accounts for around 60% of all lending in Azerbaijan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Kazakhstan oil field goes commercial

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s troublesome Caspian Sea oil field Kashagan has finally started producing oil on a commercial basis, Kazakh oil and gas minister Kanat Bozumbayev said in a speech to parliament. The project has been heavily delayed and has run several billion dollars over budget but the news still marks an important bench mark for Kazakhstan which is counting on Kashagan revenues boosting it into the top tier of global oil producers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)