NOV. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Tajikistan have said a new law which means parliament has to approve all foreign funding is an attack on free speech and will force many NGOs to close, media reported. The Tajik government has said it needs the law to stop outside countries spying.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have set up a company to develop the so called TAPI gas pipeline that they plan to build, media reported. Establishing a company is another step towards building the 1,800km pipeline. All four countries own an equal share in the company.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Council, Nurtai Abyakyev, said there were over 300 Kazakhs, half of them women, fighting in Syria and Iraq for the extremist group Islamic State. Policy makers in Central Asia are increasingly worried about how easily Islamic State has recruited people from the region.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
LONDON/United KIngdom, NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kakha Bendukidze, one of the chief architects of Georgia’s radical privatisation drive under President Mikheil Saaskhvili, has died in London aged 58.
He had recently undergone minor heart surgery and there was no suggestion of foul play.
A biologist who became a wealthy businessman towards the end of the Soviet Union, Bendukidze is best known for being the economy minister under Mr Saakashvili. Under Bendukidze, Georgia pursued one of the most aggressive privatisation schemes in the world.
This massive privatised and tax cutting drive — dubbed Bendunomics — attracted both praise and criticise. Praise from international organisations, such as the World Bank and the IMF, which champion private ownership over state ownership but criticism from rivals who pointed out that lucrative assets which had formerly belonged to the state ended up in the hands of Mr Saakashvili’s allies.
Before he was appointed economy minister in 2004, Bendukidze was a high profile businessmen in Russia advocating a low tax regime and reduced state intervention. He had been on close terms with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested and imprisoned on tax evasion charges, largely interpreted as being linked to his various challenges to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After Mr Khodorkovsky’s arrest and imprisonment, Bendukidze decided that it was time to leave Russia and he readily accepted a position in Mr Saakashvili’s revolutionary government.
A larger than life figure, both in terms of his size and booming personality, Bendukidze left Georgia earlier this year after the current government started to arrest and prosecute high- profile members of the previous administration for various economic crimes. Over the last few months Bendukidze had been advising the new president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and had been expected to take up a government position.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The falling value of the Russian rouble is hitting vital wine exports to Russia, the head of the Armenian wine-making union, Avag Harutyunyan, told media. Russia is the biggest market for Armenian wine and brandy. Mr Harutyunyan said that Armenia would export 30% less wine this year than last year.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – n a rare public protest against the Uzbek authorities, students at Uzbekistan’s National University published an open letter on a website which said they had been forced to pick cotton during the harvest season. Campaigners around the world have criticised Uzbekistan for using forced labour in its cotton harvest.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
I
NOV. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan imported 52,000 cars in Jan-Oct this year, a drop of 38.5% from the same period in 2013, media reported quoting the state statistics agency. The drop is likely attributable to a combination of weaker economics and new emissions regulations.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prince Andrew, fifth-in-line to the English throne, flew out to Baku for talks with President Ilham Aliyev, the Daily Mail newspaper reported. It’s unclear why Prince Andrew made the trip although he was Britain’s special trade representative.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Ata Meken party, one of three parties in the ruling government, said it supported nationalising the Kumtor gold mine. Kumtor is the focus of a row between Kyrgyzstan and its Canadian partner Centerra Gold. Ata Meken may have chosen this populist policy to bolster itself ahead of a parliamentary election next year.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek sum currency has fallen to its lowest levels against the US dollar in independent Uzbekistan’s 23 year history, pushing up the price of food and threatening social stability.
On the Black Market, an essential measure of currency rates, the exchange rate in Tashkent hit the 3,450 sums to $1. The skyrocketing currency price is a mirror of Russia’s economic troubles.
A Tashkent resident told the Conway Bulletin that a kilogram of mutton now costs between 25,000 and 30,000 sums, compared to 20,000 sums in the summer.
Prices of bread, sugar and grain-based cereals have also risen by roughly 25% over the past three months, he said.
“As if the recent increase in utility costs was not frustrating enough, the government’s inaction to stem price increases because of a foreign currency adds insult to injury,” the source said.
The Tashkent resident was referring to a 10% increase imposed by the government on utility prices on Oct. 1.
This insight is important because it provides a first- hand snapshot of how frustration is building in Uzbekistan over food price increases and the rising cost of utilities.
Ordinary Uzbeks have also had to put up with fuel and gas shortages. Social pressure is building.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)