Category Archives: Uncategorised

Kazakh capital grows in population

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said triumphantly that Astana had grown to 1m residents. The announcement came just days before the celebrations of Astana Day, a holiday in Kazakhstan that coincides withMr Nazarbayev’s birthday. The figure appears designed to impress upon people the success of the Astana project. By most estimations, the population of Astana is around 800,000.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kyrgyzstan wants to import electricity from Tajikistan

JULY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan wants to import 1.5-2m kWh of electricity every day from Tajikistan over the summer, Aleksey Borodin, deputy director of National Electric Network, told local media, another sign that its power generating systems are not operating at their expected levels. In 2015, Kyrgyzstan imported 146m kWh from Tajikistan, before they halted trade because of the completion of theDatka-Kemin transmission line in Kyrgyzstan which was supposed to ensure the country’s energy independence.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Tajikistan forces shops to accept credit cards

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shops in Tajikistan larger than 40 square metres will now have to accept payment by both credit cards and bank cards or face a $1,000 fine under regulation passed in 2014 that has now come into force. The imposition of the 2014 rules may be linked to a cash shortage in Tajikistan whichhave caused liquidity problems for its banks.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Inflation in Georgia falls, again

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s statistics committee Geostat said annualised inflation dropped to 1.1% in June, its lowest since December 2013, piling pressure on the Central Bank which has tried to boost price rises through interest rate cuts. Importantly, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell by 2.6%.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhstan’s trade turnover sinks

JULY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hit by a sharp drop in commodity prices, Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover shrank by 30% in Jan.-April compared to the same period last year, the Statistics Committee said. Exports fell by 31% in the first four months of the year to $11b while imports fell by 29% to $7.2b. The global drop in oil and commodity prices has exposed Kazakhstan’s over reliance on its extractive industry.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kerry flies into Tbilisi to pledge support for Georgia

TBILISI, JULY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, flew to Tbilisi ahead of a NATO meeting in Warsaw to thank Georgia for its support for US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan and back its territorial integrity.

This was Mr Kerry’s first visit to the South Caucasus as Secretary of State, highlighting how the US’ focus during Barack Obama’s second administration has shifted from Central Asia and the South Caucasus region once it pulled most of its military out of Afghanistan. Instead, Mr Kerry has been embroiled in the collapse of Syria, a resurgent Russia and a war in Ukraine.

Georgia had been hoping for a strong show of support ahead of the NATO summit, the military alliance it has been pushing hard to join.

But Mr Kerry stopped short of openly declaring support for Georgia’s NATO membership and instead promised to support for Georgia’s territorial integrity.

“The United States stands firm in its commitment to Georgia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders,” he said at a news conference with Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

“Russia’s occupation and militarization of parts of Georgia’s territory are unacceptable.”

Russia has recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway Georgian regions.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Tajik banking crisis spreads

DUSHANBE, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s Central Bank said it had placed Tajprombank under its administration because it had nearly run out of cash and also that it had asked the EBRD to step in to advise it on how to support the country’s ailing banking sector.

A banking crisis in Tajikistan, triggered by a recession in Russia and a slowdown in domestic economic activity, has spread.

Tajik media reported that the Central Bank had asked the EBRD directly for technical support and advice to help it smooth out problems in its banking sector. The EBRD has already said it is looking at bailing out Tojiksodirotbank.

It has said that is is considering more support, although it us unclear if this is just advice or also funds.

So far Tojiksodirotbank and now Tajprombank have been placed under the Central Bank’s administration.

A source at the Tajik Central Bank said it had placed Tajprombank under its administration on May 3.

“This decision was taken because Tajprombank had repeatedly violated banking legislation and other regulatory acts laid out by the Central Bank, weakening its financial position and disappointing its creditors,” the source said.

It is unclear why it took the Central Bank two months to acknowledge this.

Agroinvestbank has also been looking increasingly shaky. Last month, customers said they were finding it difficult to withdraw cash from Agroinvestbank’s ATMs.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Putin ratifies oil supply deal with Tajikistan

JULY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an oil supply agreement with Tajikistan signed in 2013. The deal will allow Tajikistan to import oil under a duty-free scheme. Tajikistan, however, cannot re-export the oil supplied by Russia. Russia is one of the main suppliers of oil for Tajikistan. The deal increases Russia’s influence over Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Comment: US foreign policy in C.Asia & the S.Caucasus

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — John Kerry’s visit to Georgia on Wednesday was the first visit by a US Secretary of State to the South Caucasus in four years. And, importantly, the visit was tied not to the region as a whole, but to a NATO summit that Mr Kerry will attend in Poland today, July 8.

Mr Kerry has only visited our patch once, in November 2015, when he toured all five Central Asian states.

This compares to the frequent visits of his predecessor and now presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who visited the Central Asia and South Caucasus region four times, perhaps because of a stronger US interest in Afghanistan and the need to show support to South Caucasus countries over their relationship with Russia and Europe.

President Barack Obama’s second term, which started in 2013, has been marked by a slow disengagement from the region. This included giving up the Manas air base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in mid-2014, once the main jumping off point for forces heading to Afghanistan but not needed once US engagement dropped off. In July 2015, the State Department also awarded jailed Kyrgyzstani human rights defender Azimzhan Askarov a human rights prize, prompting an official complaint from Kyrgyzstan.

The NATO-driven engagement in Georgia also waned, especially after President Mikhail Saakashvili lost power in 2013. Georgia is now possibly the furthest it’s ever been from joining the military alliance.

US diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan have also worsened, after President Ilham Aliyev’s re-election in 2013 and the increasingly harsh crackdown on political opposition and media freedom, including expelling the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from Baku.

And Mr Kerry’s demeanor has also betrayed lack of interest. Soon after his appointment, in Feb. 2013, he referred to Kyrgyzstan as “Kyrzakhstan” at a press conference. Both the US diplomatic attitude and resource allocation show that it is losing ground in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to Russia, China and Iran, who have proved able to pay for the soft power in cash, investing in infrastructure, financial and energy projects.

Next year the State Department plans to allocate around $240m to the region, around 1/3 more than in 2015. Still, more funding does not necessarily mean more engagement.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakh court jails doctors for selling babies

ALMATY, JULY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Almaty court sentenced a group of former doctors, nurses and mothers to prison for selling newborn children, exposing another case of corruption and human trafficking in Kazakhstan’s healthcare system.

Four mothers who had sold their children, 10 hospital workers and one other person linked to the trafficking of the babies will face between two and nine years in prison.

The sentence ended a trial that lasted for one year and targeted the illegal market of children.

For eight years, hospital workers, including several doctors, had organised the sale of at least 30 children at a price of between $500 and $6,000 each. One nurse sold as many as 10 babies.

The parents who bought the babies were pardoned by the judge, avoiding both a sentence and a criminal record, allowing them to become their children’s official guardians.

Under Kazakh law, people who have a criminal record cannot legally adopt children.

During the trial, parents who bought the babies said they had agreed to the trafficking ring because it was easier than facing the bureaucratic hurdles of adoption.

Aiman Umarova, a lawyer who defended a woman who bought a baby, told the Conway Bulletin’s Kazakhstan correspondent that this was not an isolated case in Kazakhstan.

“It is a problem across the country. In maternity houses you can easily sell children,” she said.

Last month, a court in Shymkent, south Kazakhstan, started a trial against workers in a maternity centre accused of selling as many as 21 newborn babies.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)