Category Archives: Uncategorised

Bitumen plant to be established in Turkmenistan

SEPT. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Westport Trading, a US-company, is setting up a processing plant to process high-quality bitumen in the port city of Seidi in Turkmenistan, media reported quoting the Turkmen government newspaper.

Bitumen is a major component for tar production used in road-building and setting up a major factory that is not dominated oil and gas production would be a boost to Turkmenistan’s promise to diversify its economy.

The $78m that the plant will reportedly cost will also generate much needed jobs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

EU pledges Armenia aid

SEPT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union has promised the give around $200m to Armenia by 2017 to help it develop its private sector, media reported. The package is part of a wider tranche of aid earmarked for counties surrounding the EU, including Azerbaijan and Belarus. Armenia has opted for closer.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Firtash appeal dashed in Tajikistan

SEPT. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An appeal court in Tajikistan upheld the decision of Tajikistan’s High Court to invalidate a takeover by Ukrainian billionaire Dmitro Firtash in 2002 of Tajik fertiliser maker TajikAzot. Analysts have said that the authorities in Tajikistan have used the problems in the country as a cover for a corporate raid.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Uzbek prosecutors look to charge Gulnara

SEPT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan appear to be on the brink of charging the once all-powerful Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimova, with various financial crimes.

A press release from the Uzbek Prosecutor-General named a Karimova G. as part of a group that has been investigated for economic crimes.

“The investigation has undertaken to fully recover the economic damage inflicted on the State. 457 billion soms have been recovered to date from the members of the organized criminal group, who are present in Uzbekistan,” the statement said.

These various economic crimes hinge around taking state assets cheaply, embezzlement, forgery and blackmail.

Russian news agency RIA-Novosti quoted a source in the Uzbek government later confirming that the reference to Karimova G. was to Gulnara Karimova.

Ms Karimova’s closest aide Gayane Avakyan has already been imprisoned for economic crimes.

Ms Karimova has been under house arrest but, even so, the charges will shock Uzbeks who had, until 12 months ago, viewed her as untouchable. Ms Karimova had controlled all the biggest components of Uzbekistan’s industry and business, been Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva and had been tipped to succeed her father as president.

A power grab by rival clan members in the Uzbek elite, though, appears to have undermined her ambitions.

Although Ms Karimova’s fall from grace sounds like a purely internal dispute, the implications are region wide. If Uzbekistan hosts a complicated dispute over power and destabilises, it will affect the entire Central Asia region. With a population of 30m, Uzbekistan is the most populous country in Central Asia and some of the best transport links. It also lies geographically at the heart of the region and shares a border with all four other Central Asian states.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Uzbek President visists Dushanbe

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek president Islam Karimov is due in Dushanbe for the first time since 2008 for the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The two-day SCO meeting is due to begin on Sept. 11. This meeting is particularly important because of strained relations between the neighbours.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Tajikistan prepares to host SCO

SEPT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The 13th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Dushanbe on Sept. 11 – 12.

Russia and China lead the SCO, a group that has regional security and economic development at its core. The other members are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The summit is expected to focus on deepening security ties and the possibility of expanding the organisation to include Afghanistan, India, Mongolia and Pakistan by next year. On Aug. 24, the SCO held its largest ever joint military drills to date in China’s Inner Mongolia province.

With Russia accused of arming rebels in Ukraine and the US-led NATO planning to enlarge by including Australia as a member, enlargement of the SCO would come at a sensitive time. As the only regional organisation to include both Russia and China, the SCO’s profile has grown over the years. Moscow and Beijing appear, though, to have different views on the future of the group.

In Bishkek this summer, China promoted its Silk Road Economic belt concept. This concept, focused on infrastructure investment and trade protection, seems to run counter to Russia’s own Eurasian integration efforts via the protectionist, China-exclusive Eurasian Economic Union.

The Kremlin has also reportedly persistently blocked the development of an SCO bank, preferring the organisation to focus on security matters, where it is closer to parity with China.

Both are said to be cautious towards any expansion that might dilute their respective influences, but acknowledge the need for the SCO to grow in order to relevant.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

FDI drops in Georgia

SEPT. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Preliminary data from Georgia’s national statistics agency has shown that direct foreign investment measured $415m in the first half of 2014, a drop of nearly 10% from a year earlier. Foreign investment is vital for Georgia and the figures will be seen as negative for the government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

ISIS flag appears in Uzbek city

SEPT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The black flag of Islamic extremist group ISIS was draped momentarily over a bridge in Tashkent, media reported. Uzbekistan is sensitive to Islamic extremist action because of its long-running fight with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Media said that police quickly removed the flag.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

French navy visits Georgia

SEPT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A French warship docked at the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi for joint-exercises with Georgia forces, another show of support for the country from a NATO member. This is the third visit to Georgia by a French naval ship this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Anti-mining protests in Kyrgyzstan

AUG. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In two separate demonstrations, hundreds of protesters in Kyrgyzstan blocked roads to try and stop production at an iron ore mine and an oil refinery, media reported. In both cases, the protesters claimed the sites were damaging the environment, a well-used tactic by protesters wanting to stop industrial production.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)