Category Archives: Uncategorised

Uzbeks mourn their great leader Karimov

SAMARKAND/Uzbekistan, NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Davlat, 33, was standing looking almost dreamily at Islam Karimov’s mausoleum. “I wish he’s ruled for another ten years,” he said.

In the West, Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, is considered a brutal dictator who ordered his soldiers to shoot his own people. In Uzbekistan, though, ordinary people pay homage to his foresight and magnanimity.

A long line of people were queuing up at the end of last month to pay their respects to Karimov.

The authorities had decided to bury him in Samarkand, where he was born and his mausoleum, like the other grand mausoleums in Uzbekistan’s most famous and most written about city, will gradually become another tourist site.

The Registan, a square in front of three madrassas, is a short walk away. It is the city’s most popular tourist site. It is also where Farkhod, 55, earns a living directing tourists.

“I remember days, when we used to get products like flour and bread only from food cards and now there is nothing that we do not produce ourselves. Cotton, wheat, machines,” he said.

“This is all thanks to Islam Karimov. May his soul rest in peace.”

Back in Tashkent, Bobor smiled when he thought of Karimov.

“I won a golden medal in boxing in 2006 and the President gave me this car,” he said proudly. Although it is now old and problematic, he said that he wouldn’t dream of selling it.

Most ordinary Uzbeks have their own stories of Karimov, focused on his image as a great leader and saviour.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakh President heads to Asia

NOV. 7/11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev flew to Japan and South Korea on a tour of East Asian countries aimed at drumming up business. Both Japanese and South Korean companies own stakes in energy and industrial projects in Kazakhstan. Korea has particularly strong links with Kazakhstan and other countries in Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Three miners die in central Kazakhstan

NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Three miners died in Karaganda, central Kazakhstan, after a monorail accident at the Saranskaya mine, local media reported. Five other workers were injured, one critically. Steelmaker ArcelorMittal Temirtau owns the Saranskaya mine and said it will investigate the accident.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Tajikistan bans newspaper

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tajik Indem think tank suspended the print edition of its Nigoh newspaper under pressure from the authorities. The independent media scene has shrunk in Tajikistan in recent years. Nigoh was known for its support of the now banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Georgia and Armenia unveil border crossing

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia and Georgia unveiled a new border crossing at Bagratashen and renewed vows to boost bilateral cooperation. At the inauguration ceremony, Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and stressed the importance of improved regional cooperation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Georgia to import gas from Iran

NOV. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The directors of the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC) and the Georgian International Energy Corporation (GIEC) met to define terms of a supply deal they made in July. NIGEC agreed to sell 40m cubic metres of gas to GIEC in the second half of 2016. GIEC is a subsidiary of Georgian Industrial Group.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Former Georgian President quits Odessa job, praises Trump

TBILISI, NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili quit as governor of the Odessa region in Ukraine after 17 months, blaming unbreakable links between politicians and corruption.

His resignation came less than a week after it was confirmed that his United National Movement (UNM) had been badly beaten in a parliamentary election in Georgia. Mr Saakashvili had been hoping to return to frontline politics in Georgia if the UNM had retaken parliament.

Instead, the UNM, and Mr Saakashvili were humiliated, winning 27 seats in the 150-seat parliament, down from 65 in 2012.

Mr Saakshvili had been given the job of heading the Odessa region by Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko on a pledge to combat corruption.

Analysts said that the bombastic Mr Saakashvili may now be preparing to set up a new political party in Ukraine or even be angling for a job under US President-elect Donald Trump.

In the aftermath of Mr Trump’s election victory on Nov. 8, Mr Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook site: “We’ve been friends for more than 20 years. I predicted this accurately.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

US embassy in Dushanbe warns of attacks

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The US embassy in Dushanbe issued a warning that Islamic militants were planning to attack large gatherings and kidnap people near the border with Afghanistan.

It said US citizens should avoid crowds and refrain from camping near the border.

“Terrorist groups may attempt to target large public gatherings and/or border crossings with Afghanistan,” it said in a statement.

The warnings comes a month after a similar warning was released in Kyrgyzstan. Governments in Central Asia have been worried both by a rise in the intensity of recruitment drives by the IS extremist group and by the encroachment north of the Taliban.

The US embassy did not give any more details of the threats or what had triggered the warning.

Media later quoted an official from the Tajik government as saying that the warning was overblown and that there was no threat to Tajiks or foreigners.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kyrgyzstan-based Centerra increases profit but still can’t access Kumtor’s cashpile

BISHKEK, NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canadian mining company Centerra Gold, owner of the Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan, reported a profitable Q3 for the first time in five years because it had cut costs and processed higher grade, and more valuable, gold but said it is still unable to access cash held in the company’s bank account.

Also, in the first nine months of 2016 the company turned a profit of $87.9m, compared to $44.5m in the same period last year. Centerra also revised upwards by 7% its yearly production guidance to 520,000 – 560,000 ounces. This is important because Kumtor is the single biggest economic asset in Kyrgyzstan, delivering around 10% of its total GDP.

But Centerra, which is 32% owned by the Kyrgyz government, also said that Bishkek’s Supreme Court rejected its appeal in October against a freeze of Kumtor’s bank account. Importantly, the Supreme Court’s decision came just one day after Centerra finalised the buyout of Canada’s Thompson Creek, which Kyrgyz lawmakers had fiercely opposed.

A Bishkek Court has frozen Kumtor’s bank accounts since June because of an unpaid environmental fine. Centerra has said the fine is politically motivated. The two sides have been locked in a row over ownership of the Kumtor gold mine.

CEO Scott Perry said the ongoing spat meant Centerra could not pay a dividend this quarter and hinted it may have to raise external finance.

“Absent access to cash held by KGC (Kumtor), the Company expects that it will be required to raise financing in order to fund construction and development expenditures on its development properties or to defer such expenditures,” he said in Centerra’s statement. The Kyrgyz government has not commented.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Tajik President opens new steel plant

NOV. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon inaugurated a new steel plant in the city of Hisor, in western Tajikistan. The plant, which cost 250m somoni ($31.8m) to build, will produce between 100,000 and 200,000 tonnes of steel and other metals. Faroz, a construction company, will be the plant’s main customer.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)