Category Archives: Uncategorised

Air passenger flight from Georgian capital to Moscow doubles

TBILISI, SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air passenger traffic from Tbilisi to Moscow grew by 92% in Jan.-Aug. 2015 compared to the same period last year, Georgia’s minister of economy Dmitri Kumsishvili said, highlighting the economic importance of the route.

Flights between Georgia and Russia were halted in 2006, due to diplomatic tension. Direct air connection timidly resumed in 2010 and was finally re-established in 2014. In 2008 Georgia and Russia fought a brief war.

“The number of passengers was particularly high from Tbilisi to Moscow,” media quoted Mr Kumsishvili as saying.

According to Mr Kumsishvili, the route will boost Georgia’s economy.

“Russian visitors spent over 750m lari ($3m) in Georgia over the past 8 months,” he said. The Tbilisi-Moscow route it currently serviced by three airlines. These are Georgian Airways, also called Airzena, Sibir, Aeroflot and Transaero.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Zoo re-opens in Georgian capital

SEPT. 12 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — The city’s zoo has re-opened three months after a flood hit it killing 19 people and an estimated 277 animals.

Pictures of dead lions and tigers and of a hippo wandering through central Tbilisi flashed around the world on the morning of June 14 after the flood tore into the zoo. A quarter of its animals were killed in the flood.

The zoo has re-opened on its original site but will move to a new premise on the outskirts of the city later in the year, the zoo’s director Zurab Gurielidze said.

He also said European zoos had agreed to give 150 animals to the zoo.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

GMEX-Group to build Tajik stock exchange

SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-based GMEX-Group said it signed a deal to help build Tajikistan’s inaugural stock exchange. The Central Asia Stock Exchange (CASE), as it will be known, aims to launch trading of securities later this year and derivatives next year. GMEX supplies the technical know-how to produce pricing and trading data.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Azerbaijan’s company signs deal with Gazprom

SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AzMeCo) signed a deal with Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom for the supply of 2b cubic metres of gas to its methanol production plant. Under the agreement, Gazprom will supply 100% of AzMeCo’s needs at the plant in Garadagh, a district just outside Baku.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Azerbaijan-Iran talks on rail link

SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani and Iranian officials have held talks to discuss connecting their railway networks, media reported quoting a regional Azerbaijani governor. If the two railway systems are connected, the link would give trade between the region and Europe a major boost.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Georgia passes prosecutor bill

SEPT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Parliament passed by 69-12 the second reading of a bill that will see the prosecutor-general’s position shift to a 6-year post elected by a 15-person body. Currently, the PM appoints the prosecutor-general on the advice of the minister of justice. Detractors of the bill say it is over-complicating the appointment process.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

US stamps of Azerbaijan musicians

SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US Postal Service has issued two stamps commemorating famous Azerbaijani cultural figures, media reported quoting the Azerbaijani consulate in Los Angeles. The stamps are dedicated to the 130th birthday of composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli and the 100th birthday of singer Rashid Behbudov. Azerbaijani official in the US have been lobbying hard to promote the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Kyrgyzstan accuses PM

SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s First Deputy PM Tayirbek Sarpashev accused some political parties of hampering the Oct. 4 parliamentary election by trying to illegally collect voters’ biometric data. Mr Sarpashev did not name the parties.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

IMF raises Uzbek GDP growth

SEPT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The IMF increased its GDP growth forecast for Uzbekistan to 6.8% from an earlier estimate of 6.2% although it also raised its inflation forecast to over 10%. The increase in inflation will all but cancel out any real GDP growth increase in Uzbekistan this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

ADB boosts Kazakh SMEs

SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Damu, a state-owned fund that helps SMEs in Kazakhstan, said it is negotiating on behalf of local businesses for a better interest rate on loans from the Asian Development Bank. The ADB has made $500m worth of loans available to SMEs in Kazakhstan since 2010. The Damu fund wants a $228m tranche made available to SMEs with an interest rate of 14% or below.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)