Category Archives: Uncategorised

Iran welcome for opposition angers Tajikistan

DEC. 29 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin)– Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Muhiddin Kabiri, the exiled head of Tajikistan’s now-banned main opposition party, in Tehran, immediately drawing threats from Tajik officials that the meeting would damage bilateral relations.

The major show of support from Iran for Mr Kabiri, who is wanted by police in Tajikistan to face various terrorism charges, and his Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) is a poke in the eye for Dushanbe, officially a secular country.

Tajikistan and Iran have traditionally close relations, sharing many similar cultural, religious and ethnic identifiers. Iran has also been a major sponsor of essential hydropower infrastructure in Tajikistan.

The Tajik foreign ministry sent a note to the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe which said: “Such an attitude to the enemies of the state and the people of Tajikistan can have a negative impact on the friendly relations between Tajikistan and Iran.”

In September, Tajikistan banned the IRPT, once Tajikistan’s main opposition party, and accused its members of supporting radical Islam and terrorism.

Mr Kabiri, who fled into exile, and his supporters have accused the Tajik government of crushing dissent.

In Dushanbe, an analyst who preferred to remain anonymous told The Conway Bulletin that Mr Kabiri was taking a gamble by appearing in Tehran.

“For Kabiri and the IRPT, after having no support at all from the West, Iran was the last chance to stay in the political arena,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Russia eases visa rules for Georgia

DEC. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia said that it would ease visa regulations on Georgians, another sign that ties between the two neighbours are normalising after years of strained relations. Georgia and Russia fought a brief war in 2008 but relations have improved since Mikheil Saakashvili quit as Georgian president in 2013. The Russian foreign ministry said it may even lift visa rules for Georgians altogether.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Kazakhstan’s parliament agrees $1b loan

DEC. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s parliament ratified a deal to take a $1b loan from the Asian Development Bank to plug a gap in the government’s finances. The deal was agreed in November. The sharp fall in oil prices has hit Kazakhstan’s economy hard shrinking growth rates and government revenues.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Kazakh businessman ups Kazkom stake

DEC. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kenes Rakishev, son-in-law of Kazakh defence minister Imangali Tasmagambetov, became the majority shareholder in Kazakhstan’s largest bank, Kazkommertsbank, after he completed his purchase of investment group Alnair Capital Holding, media reported. Mr Rakishev will now own, directly and through Alnair, 56.75% of Kazkommertsbank. Alnair had been linked to the Kazakh elite.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Kyrgyzstan to construct pipeline to China

JAN. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan will begin construction work on a new gas pipeline running to China in March, media reported quoting Deputy Economy Minister Aibek Kaliev. The pipeline, which will take several years to build, will complete a route running from gas fields in east Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and on to Kyrgyzstan and China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Azerbaijan shakes up security

DEC. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to create two new security agencies, the State Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service, and disband the National Security Ministry. Earlier this year, Mr Aliyev sacked Eldar Mahmudov as national security minister. The next day police arrested several ministry officials.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Kyrgyzstan woos Russians to Issyk Kul

DEC. 15 2015, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s government wants Russian tourists now blocked from travelling to Turkey for a week or two in the sun to head to Lake Issyk-Kul instead.

Media quoted Mikhail Kim, deputy director of Kyrgyzstan tourism department, as saying that he expects an influx of Russians after Russia blocked tourists from travelling to Turkey in retaliation for a Turkish warplane shooting down a Russian warplane. He also said he had written to Russia’s tourism officials to encourage them to send people to Issyk-Kul and other Kyrgyz resorts.

“It is like in the USSR, when workers from all over the Soviet Union were coming to Kyrgyzstan for vacations,” he said.

Industry insiders, though, told the Bulletin that although there has been an increase in the number of Russians holidaying in Issyk-Kul to around 60,000 per year, they doubt there would be a deluge next summer.

The head of a local tour agency who preferred to remain anonymous told the Bulletin: “For the last 1-1⁄2 years, we have seen a gradual increase of Russian tourists coming to Kyrgyzstan, and we want to have more of them coming.”

During the Soviet Union, Issyk Kul used to be regarded as a top holidaying spots. It dropped back in popularity with the onset of cheap flights to Turkey and Europe, though.

Emil Umetaliev, head of the Kyrgyz Concept tour agency, said there would not be boost in tourism.

“We have high prices, bad service and long way from Russia,” he said told local media. Russia will prioritise their own resorts like Crimea, he added.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Kazakh tenge drops to fresh lows

DEC. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh tenge fell to its record low against the dollar this week, after the US Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, a move that will inevitably dent Kazakhstan’s fragile economy.

On the eve of the celebrations for the 24th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence, the tenge had already bottomed out at 337.8/$1 (Dec. 15). When trading re-started after two days of holidaying in Kazakhstan and an interest rate rise in the US, the tenge fell another 1.4% to hit 342.5/$1.

The tenge now trades at half its value in August, before the Central Bank ditched the Tenge-US dollar peg.

The Fed’s rate rise decision on Dec. 16 was expected, but it was still bad news for Emerging Markets.

And Kazakh state-owned companies seemtobeplanningforworsetocome.

An alleged official letter sent out by state-owned energy company Kaz- munaigas and leaked on social media, instructed its subsidiaries to draft plans for the period 2016-2020 accounting for oil prices at $30/barrel and a tenge/dollar rate of 360 (Dec. 14). Brent oil is currently trading at $36.70/barrel.

Kazmunaigas could not be reached for comment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Kazakh TransGas names new CEO

DEC. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – KazTransGas, Kazakhstan’s gas distributor, named Rustam Suleymanov as its new CEO. Mr Suleymanov has worked at KazTransGas for 15 years. Former CEO Kairat Sharipbayev was named chairman of the board.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Cement production to boost in Tajikistan

DEC. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament ratified a $145m investment deal to boost cement production in the country. Under the agreement, a Tajik-Chinese joint venture will build three new facilities, including a cement plant with a capacity of 1.2m tonnes in the Yovon district, 40km south of Dushanbe. Three unnamed Chinese businessmen will own 75% of the joint venture and the Tajik government will retain the remaining 25%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)