DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia announced new rules to try and prevent people moving through its territory en route to fight for the radical Islamic State group in Syria, media reported. On the same day, media reported another Georgian citizen from the Pankisi Gorge that borders Chechnya had been killed in Syria.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US Peace Corps programme, which sends young Americans to teach English around the world, left Azerbaijan. Depending on who you believe, the US either withdrew the programme because it decided it was no longer needed, or the Azerbaijani authorities threw Peace Corps out as Washington-Baku relations deteriorated.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – As part of its modernisation scheme, Uzbekistan Airways has said it wants to sell three Airbus A-310 and three BAE Systems RJ-85 passenger aircrafts, media reported. The combined sale is worth nearly $50m. Uzbekistan Airways has been looking to upgrade its fleet throughout the year.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a treaty to join the Russia- led Eurasian Economic Union in 2015. The vote rubber stamps earlier decisions taken by President Serzh Sargsyan. Alongside Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are members of the Customs Union which will morph into the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The amount of transactions completed online in Azerbaijan more than doubled in the first 11 months of the year to 5.6m manat, media reported. The statistic is an indicator that Azerbaijan’s economy is maturing.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan continues to attempt to increase its appeal to investors, even as its investment climate looks difficult — some would say too difficult — to all but the state-affiliated companies of its political allies.
During a recent meeting with UN Secretary-General for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Mukhisa Kituyiin in Geneva, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirodzhiddin Aslov asked UNCTAD to conduct an independent study of the country’s investment policies.
With the country’s debt at $2b according to the ministry of finance, the need for a foreign capital injection is clear. Tajikistan’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business study is 167th of 189 countries with lousy scores for categories such as ‘paying taxes’ and ‘getting electricity’. Both local and foreign businessmen complain of state corruption.
Tajikistan has also applied for a sovereign credit rating for 2015. When the agencies release their verdicts next year, it could make for interesting reading.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh government plans to start regulating fuel against prices in neighbouring Russia, media reported. Kazakhstan imports a third of its fuel from Russia and has blamed price disparities and the downturn in the Russian economy for shortages.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least 40 NGOs in Kyrgyzstan signed a petition urging Pres. Almazbek Atambayev to avoid signing into law a bill which will make overseas funding illegal, media reported. Mr Atambayev has previous said the law is important because it prevents foreign states from using NGOs to spy on Kyrgyzstan. The NGOs say the funding is a vital lifeline.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps in a push to boost investment from the Gulf States, Kyrgyzstan will open an embassy in Dubai. President Almazbek Atamabayev announced the opening of a new embassy while on a trip to the UAE. Kyrgyzstan has slowly been increasing its international presence over the past year.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uruguay’s vice-president Danilo Astori visited Armenia, highlighting a little-known but important global relationship.
According to media reports of Mr Astori’s visit, Uruguay was the first country in the world to recognise the Armenian Genocide.
Armenia and Turkey have been rowing for decades over the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in eastern Turkey at the end of the First World War. Armenia has said that the deaths were part of an organised genocide by the Ottoman Turks. Turkey has said that the deaths were part of general fighting.
It remains a thorn in Armenia-Turkey relations and forms a major part of Armenia’s foreign policy.
Uruguayan officials were clear on the significance of the trip.
“The trip will have official status and will be important to strengthen the bonds of solidarity, fraternity and cooperation that unite the two countries for decades, when 1965 Uruguay became the first country in the world to recognise the Armenian Genocide and thus inaugurated a long list of agreements and acts of solidarity with the Armenian people that has continued to expand,” they said according to press reports.
The importance of this is that it underlines just how much emphasis Armenia puts on promoting the genocide.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)