OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a third and final reading, Armenia’s parliament approved a controversial new tax code that has been in the works for two years. The new code will reduce the income tax bracket for most of Armenia’s working population, liberalise VAT and tax dividends. Critics of the reform have said that the new tax code will push Armenia into a recession.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Centerra Gold’s stock price has been on a rollercoaster this summer, closely following the ups and downs of the price of gold.
This week, both fell. Centerra contracted by 9% to 6.49 Canadian dollars and gold registered an unusual 5% fall to $1,254.38/troy ounce on Thursday. After a tense spring, when the Kyrgyz government and Centerra were at loggerheads over permits and court cases, calm now appears to reign. Importantly, though, this year Centerra has actively tried to diversify its portfolio away from Kyrgyzstan, investing in Turkey and in the US.
As part of the financing for the acquisition of Colorado-based Thompson Creek, Centerra issued new shares which analysts said will dilute the share that Kyrgyzaltyn, the government-owned gold miner, owns in Centerra from 32% to approximately 28.8%.
The deal, inked in July, put relations between the company and the government under strain once again.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
SEPT. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s state insurance company wants to see President Emomali Rakhmon’s head on a 1,000 somoni ($127) bill. Globally, the only living heads of state with their faces on banknotes are royals, notably Queen Elizabeth II, and a few presidents-for-life in Africa and Asia. The proposal could now spark a debate around Mr Rakhmon and his growing personality cult.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistani media hinted that it was anticipating potential supply-side problems with CASA-1000 electricity project by saying that it had invited Russia to make up any short- fall over winter when Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s hydropower stations are less productive. The World Bank-backed $1.2b project aims to send electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan by 2019. This year, shortages in Kyrgyzstan have cast doubts over the country’s export capacity and Pakistan has explored other suppliers, including Turkmenistan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Parliament approved a ban on underage marriage, five months after MPs had controversially voted against it. Kyrgyz law only allows people over 18 to marry, but under special religious conditions, minors could get married. The bill, which passed by a narrow margin, now needs President Almazbek Atambayev’s signature to enter into force. Around 15% of women marry before turning 18 in Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz statistics committee said.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a visit to Uzbekistan by the World Bank’s new regional director for Central Asia, Lilia Burunciuc, the Uzbek ministry of economy asked for a $100m loan to improve the country’s job market. The ministry said it wanted to create around 500,000 new, sustainable jobs over the next five years. In June, the World Bank committed to a new partnership with Uzbekistan, earmarking around $3b for a vast range of projects.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – US golf champion Jack Nicklaus flew to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to discuss designing Turkmenistan’s first golf course. Mr Nicklaus’s company, Nicklaus Design, has mulled building a golf course in Turkmenistan, near the border with Iran, for the past couple of years.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz police released the wife of Sobir Valiev, a Tajik opposition figure, 22 hours after her arrest. Kyrgyzstan’s Security Service said the woman, Zhannat Khamzayeva, was questioned regarding the alleged illegal activities of her husband. Mr Valiyev, a member of the opposition movement Group-24 who currently lives in Poland, is accused of illegal border crossing and forging documents. The Security Service ordered Ms Khamzayeva to remain in the country.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – US media sympathetic to the Republican party has hinted that a gift by car manufacturer GM to the Clinton Foundation in 2010 may have triggered a visit by Hillary Clinton to a factory GM part-owns in Uzbekistan in 2011 when she was Secretary of State.
This is not the first time that Ms Clinton has had to fight off allegations of poor judgement linked to her charitable foundation that she co- founded with her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, but it is the first time that Uzbekistan has fea- tured in the US presidential debate.
Fox News, which favours the Republican party, referenced a corruption scandal which has hit GM Uzbekistan this year over alleged bogus car sales to Russia.
“Clinton isn’t tied to any of the allegations,” it reported. “But it’s another example of how Clinton Foundation donations and subsequent State Department actions have put the Democratic presidential nominee in an awkward position.”
In 2010, GM gave the Clinton Foundation cars worth $685,000. A year later, Ms Clinton visited the GM Uzbekistan factory, a joint venture with the Uzbek government, in east
Uzbekistan, giving it a major publicity boost.
Business deals, and subsequent allegations of bribe paying, with Uzbekistan have proved damaging to Western companies before. Ms Clinton may also be tarnished by association.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)
OCT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan said it has discontinued sales of its Ravon Matiz car model in Russia and shifted exports to Belarus. The company did not give a reason for the marketing decision. Uzbekistan and Belarus have improved trade ties. GM Uzbekistan, a joint venture between US-based GM (25%) and state-owned Uzavtoprom (75%), has had to grapple with a corruption scandal involving car sales to Russia in the past few months.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)