APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – According to Armenia’s Statistics Committee, foreign debt increased by 1.5% at the end of March, reaching $4.4b. Total debt also grew by 1.5% to $5.2b. The Committee said debt/GDP ratio will measure 49.4% by the end of the year. Debt/GDP ratio is a common measure to assess the health of a country’s economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) -DUSHANBE– Regional officials in Tajikistan are imposing strict regulations on the appearance of youngsters they allow to meet President Emomali Rakhmon when he visits, media reported, exposing what critics say are heavily stage-managed processes designed to flatter the Tajik leader.
According to reports, Shahnoz Niyozova, a student from the northern town of Mastchoh was barred from meeting Mr Rakhmon when he visited for Navruz celebrations in March because she was not sufficiently tall or Aryan in appearance.
A leaked official letter from the town’s administration gave a rare insight into local administrations’ think.
“Those who wish to speak before the Leader of Nation must have beautiful Aryan appearance, be tall, and have sonorous diction,” it said.
Local officials generally handpick the most beautiful and eloquent youths to meet Mr Rakhmon. They recite poems or thank him for bringing peace to Tajikistan.
Most ordinary Tajiks regard these meetings, which are shown on national television, as a waste of time.
In Dushanbe, Firdavs, 28, told a Bulletin correspondent that it was hot air.
“No one really talks about stuff that matter, like economic and political issues,” he said. “From all the flatteries and poems, you would think that we do not have any problems.”
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian gold miner Polymetal said that its Lichkvaz project in Armenia holds 18.1 tonnes of gold, up 17% from a previous assessment. Last November, Polymetal bought the 75% stake it didn’t own in Lichkvaz for $9.7m, gaining full ownership in the project. Outside Russia, Polymetal operates in Armenia and Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – KEGOC, a mainly state-owned electricity distributor in Kazakhstan, said it will not pay out dividends for 2015, due to the company’s poor financial performance last year. In 2015, KEGOC posted a loss of 7.8b tenge ($23.4m). KEGOC was one of the best performers in the Kazakh Stock Exchange last year, with its shares gaining 47%. The government sold a chunk of KEGOC at the end of 2014, as part of its so-called People’s IPO.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the country’s railway operator, issued bonds for 50b tenge ($150m) with a 10-year maturity, in what has been described as the largest issue of debt in Kazakhstan in 2016. Halyk Finance, part of Halyk Bank, the second-largest lender in Kazakhstan, brokered the deal in the Kazakh Stock Exchange.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian government said it would issue ID cards free-of-charge between May 26 and June 26, in an effort to prepare voters for a parliamentary election in October. Georgia’s electronic ID cards generally cost 30 lari ($13.6). The government is pushing for voters to have the correct identification documents to showcase its transparent electoral environment.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A developer in Kazakhstan has produced an app for students to help them study for exams which he said would help to reduce stress and, also, high suicide rates among students. Analysts think that the country’s demanding school system contributes to boosting youth suicide rates among the world’s highest. Recently, the ministry of education announced that students could re-take failed exams.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Compared to the first quarter of last year, cashless payments in Kazakhstan grew by 26%, media reported. As of February 2016, cashless payments make up 15% of the total payments in the country, highlighting cash’s dominant position. The number of terminals used to take debit or credit cards in shops grew on a year-on-year basis by 24%.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov invited Qatar’s business community to invest in the construction of the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The first investment agreement was signed by the consortium shareholders in April 2015. The project is considered pivotal in connecting South and Central Asia as well as for securing the long-term future of Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – State-owned Uzbekistan Airways said it transported 535,600 passengers in the first quarter of 2016, a 6.8% reduction compared to the same period last year. The company also said it reduced the number of flights by 9.8% to 5,007. The biggest cut has been to Uzbekistan Airways’ internal routes, a sign, perhaps, of a weaker domestic economy.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)