MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Turkmenbashi refinery complex plans to produce 340,000 tonnes of compressed natural gas (CNG) this year, a 13% increase compared to 2015. The majority of the production is booked for exports to Georgia, Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Turkmenistan also uses CNG domestically as fuel.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A joint report from the UN’s World Food Programme and Armenia’s Statistics Committee said that around 19% of Armenian children under the age of five are stunted, a consequence of widespread malnourishment in the country. The report also noted that around 15% of the surveyed pool is overweight. This is commonly known as a “double malnutrition burden” which can become a public health concern if it spreads across the population. The report concluded that the Armenian government needs to take action to invert this negative trend.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — State-owned airline Uzbekistan Airways said it started a new weekly service between Tashkent and Tokyo Narita. The company also said the frequency will double to two flights per week from the end of March. Relations between Uzbekistan and Japan have been improving and Japanese businesses are investing heavily in Uzbekistan’s energy and mining sectors.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – BP said it expects flat oil output this year from its Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil fields off the coast of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. Last year, ACG produced 31.3m tonnes of oil, slightly down from 31.5m tonnes in 2014. BP also said it plans two rounds of maintenance later this year. ACG is the mainstay of Azerbaijan’s oil production. Its output has been falling.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian government wants to reform its stock exchange to include currencies and other forms of financial trade. In an interview with Reuters, the director of NASDAQ OMX, Konstantin Saroyan, said: “We are concerned that there are no currency operations on the stock exchange and we are trying to change our business model.” Mr Saroyan also said demand for US dollars has declined due to the economic downturn.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A short-circuit appears to have triggered a large fire at the Sameba cathedral in Georgia’s capital. The fire spread across 1,200 square metres and it took several hours for the Tbilisi fire department to extinguish it. The Sameba cathedral is the world’s third-tallest Eastern Orthodox church. No-one was reported as injured.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bakhtiyar Krykpyshev replaced Eduard Ogai as chairman of Kazakh miner Kazakhmys Corporation. Kazakhmys Corporation is the privately-held offshoot of the now-defunct Kazakhmys and is controlled by Vladimir Kim. KAZ Minerals, the publicly-traded heir of Kazakhmys, is the other offshoot of the corporate reorganisation.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s state-owned gas firm Uztransgaz will invest $506m modernising its pipeline system. Uztransgaz will spend around $266m building a new section of the 10b cubic metres pipeline from the Ferghana valley to Tashkent which was damaged last year after an explosion. Uztransgaz also said it will modernise one of its compressor stations at the Central Asia-Centre export pipeline and build a new one for a total cost of $215m.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The UK government introduced a new Super Priority visa service for citizens of Kazakhstan. The new service will cost an extra £750 ($1,060) in addition to the consular fees and will ensure delivery within 24 hours. The government also said the new process can be used to apply for long term, multi- entry visas. “Last year the UK issued over 15,000 UK visas for Kazakhstani citizens,” Carolyn Browne, British ambassador to Kazakhstan said in a statement. London is a favoured destination for Kazakhstan’s wealthy.
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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)
MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Canadian oil company Sixth Energy Ltd bought a 26.5% stake in Calgary- based Caspian Energy for $320,000. Sixth Energy now owns 60.6% of Caspian Energy, a company active in north-western Kazakhstan. Caspian Energy holds an exclusive licence to explore the North Block, near the Alibekmola, Zhanazhol and Kenkiyak oil fields.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)