MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Valery Permyakov, the Russian solider who confessed to killing an Armenian family in January, will be tried in a Russian military court, the Interfax news agency reported (March 29). The murders angered Armenians who wanted Mr Permyakov tried by Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
APRIL 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazkommertzbank, one of Kazakhstan’s largest banks, named American Marc Holtzman as its new chairman, replacing Nurzhan Subkhanberdin. Mr Subkhanberdin remains a major shareholder in Kazkommertzbank. He lives mainly in London and has backed opponents of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015, Almaty (The Conway Bulletin) – Cyan coloured labels proudly proclaiming “Made in Kazakhstan” have appeared in supermarkets across Kazakhstan, part of a government drive to promote local products.
Data collected by a Bulletin correspondent, though, suggested some labels may be misleading, perhaps even farcical.
At three supermarkets in central Almaty, basic agriculture goods — milk, cheese, yogurt — carrying the label did appear to be genuinely made in Kazakhstan but Italian chocolates and Belgian and French beer, all imported from Europe, also carried the label.
The Kazakh news magazine Vlast also looked into the veracity of the “Made in Kazakhstan” labels.
In its investigation, Vlast said that some ice cream and sweets sold as Kazakh had actually been made in Russia, part of the flood of Russian goods imported into Kazakhstan since the devaluation of the Russian rouble.
When Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the “Made in Kazakhstan” drive earlier this year he wanted the label to stimulate the local economy. It currently needs more oversight or risks becoming meaningless.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Geo-Jade Petroleum, a Chinese energy company, said it will buy KoZhan, a Kazakh energy company, for around $350m, media reported. KoZhan is owned by the so-called Eurasian Trio of Kazakh oligarchs.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Following a clutch of other US fast-food chains, Domino’s Pizza expects to open its first store in Tbilisi in mid-April. Geopizza, which owns the Domino’s Pizza franchise in Georgia, said it wanted to set up 12 stores within five years.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015, Tbilisi (The Conway Bulletin) – A state-of-the-art greenhouse, aimed at producing high-grade tomatoes, opened in Georgia.
Co-owned by French company Richel and the Georgian government, the so-called Greenhouse Corporation plans to reduce imports of tomatoes by 30%. With the devaluation of the lari currency over the past few months, food imports have gotten more expensive.
Dimitri Kolensikov, director of the Greenhouse Corporation, also said that the greenhouse was a technological triumph.
“This is the highest greenhouse in Georgia and the second construction in the Caucasus region,” media quoted him as saying.
“The higher the greenhouse is, the easier is to control climate and dampness. This is an energy efficient automated greenhouse.”
The greenhouse is located in the village of Kapanakhchi, to the south of Tbilisi.
And the greenhouse also represents hi-tech farming in Georgia, where low-tech small farmsteads still predominate.
Technology, seed crops and biologists have been employed from Europe to help set up the greenhouse.
The Greenhouse Corporation expects to expand over the next year.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
APRIL 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Apparently not content with bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, Kazakh officials have said they are considering a bid to host the 2026 Football World Cup. The Football World Cup is perhaps the world’s biggest sports tournament.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – With a conflict in Yemen between a pro-government alliance that includes various Arab states and Iran-backed rebels worsening, Tajikistan has asked Russia for help repatriating 44 Tajik doctors.
Abdulfaizov Atoyev, a Tajik foreign ministry spokeman, said: “The country is taking all relevant measures to evacuate our citizens.”
Media has reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are preparing for a ground invasion of Yemen.
Doctors and nurses from Tajikistan often travel abroad to work in hospitals and clinics. Remittances from these migrant workers keep the Tajik economy afloat. Russian companies like Zdraveksport and Tekhnoeksport specialise in sending Tajik doctors to Gulf countries. In Yemen, they mostly work for the Red Cross/Red Crescent.
Last October a Tajik nurse was kidnapped in Yemen.
Medical studies represent a climbable social ladder in Tajikistan, as well as providing a route to work abroad. Moving to another country has been a lucrative option for Tajik medics who also want to support their family at home.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank kept its key interest rate at 4.5%, confounding expectations of another rate rise to counter a fall in the value of its lari currency. The Central Bank said the current inflation rate did not merit a rate rise although it also said that a gradual devaluation would probably push prices up.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Azerbaijan began the trial of six men accused of fighting with the extremist IS group in Syria, media reported. The men are part of a group of 26 people arrested last year.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)