JUNE 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A draft report by the World Bank appears to give a green light for Tajikistan to build its controversial Rogun dam which Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon hopes will provide much need electricity. Human rights workers have said that the giant dam will force 42,000 people from their homes.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – So, now it is official. The unrest in Ukraine is negatively impacting Kazakhstan’s economy, economy minister Yerbolat Dossayev said at a routine press conference.
Economists have been downgrading Kazakhstan’s growth predictions this year because of increased fighting in Ukraine and international sanctions on Russia after it annexed Crimea but this is the first official confirmation.
“The poor growth rate of industrial production, the slowdown of investment activities, high levels of non- performing loans, and the crisis in Ukraine are the main risks to Kazakhstan’s economy,” Mr Dossayev said.
Kazakhstan is now looking at GDP growth this year of around 4% rather than the 6% it first hoped to hit.
Rasul Zhumaly, a political analyst for the exclusive.kz website explained the impact of the Ukraine unrest on Kazakhstan.
“(There is a) high level of interdependence among these post-Soviet economies,” he said. “The Ukrainian situation is negatively affecting the Russian economy and this in turn is closing some avenues for the development of Kazakhstan.”
There is, though, a sneaking suspicion that the Kazakh officials may be starting to use Ukraine as an excuse, shielding genuine structural problems in the economy from attention.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan banned the sale of alcohol between 9pm and 12am every day except in licensed bars and restaurants in an attempt to get people to drink less Alcohol sales are ubiquitous in shops around the country, something officials blame for the high level of drinking.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian rebel region of South Ossetia said that it now recognised the Luhansk People’s Republic as an independent state, media reported. Luhansk is a region in east Ukraine were pro-Russia separatists are fighting central government forces. South Ossetia declared independence in 2008 after a war between Russia and Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Constitutional Court appears to have ruled against a controversial law introduced two years ago that banned foreigners from buying land in the country.
The trigger for the reversal of the 2012 law was a case brought to the court by Mathias Huter, am Austrian citizen working for the anti-corruption lobby group Transparency International.
The Constitutional Court ruled in his favour, effectively lifting a moratorium imposed on land purchases by foreigners in 2012. For Georgia’s image as a place to invest, this is good news.
The original ban had been a piece of gimmickry by the United National Movement party (UNM), the ruling party of President Mikheil Saakashvili. There had been a backlash against moves introduced to encourage South Africans and Punjabis to move to Georgia to farm. The idea had been that the immigrants would bring new technology and raise production. Instead the incomers generated resentment.
Displaying an unashamedly populist touch and with a parliamentary election on the horizon, the UNM introduced laws to ban foreigners from buying land.
Although the moratorium has not yet officially been lifted, commentators said that the ruling effectively dismantled it. This is another success for the ruling Georgian Dream coalition which defeated the UNM in a 2012 parliamentary election, a 2013 presidential election and a 2014 local election.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will trial a pilot project to change its national education curriculum away from the Soviet style rote learning to one based on the West’s critical thinking and problem solving, media reported. The step is, potentially, a major step in a much needed educational overhaul.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz agriculture accounts for around a fifth of GDP and just under half the country’s employment according to the country’s National Statistics Committee, yet many farmers say the sector is on its knees.
As Kyrgyzstan prepares for entry into the Eurasian Economic Union comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, discussions over farming’s future are only likely to intensify.
On June 12, Alibek Rakaev, Head of the Association of Pastoralists told journalists that meat production in the country was falling due to the prevalence of diseases that village vets have proven unable to diagnose or treat. Livestock farming was in a “critical condition”, he said.
Back in Soviet times Kyrgyzstan’s meat and dairy products were exported all over the Union, but neighbouring Kazakhstan now views Kyrgyzstan’s products with caution and has banned import of Kyrgyz milk and meat in the past. The Eurasian Economic Union has even tighter controls.
Poultry farmers might welcome membership, with high tariffs on non-Union imports potentially restricting the flow of Chinese chicken and eggs onto the domestic market, but for Kyrgyzstan’s crop-growers, Jomart Jumabekov, a member of the Public Advisory Board on the Ministry of Agriculture, said, closer integration with Russia and Kyrgyzstan means problems.
“I view the Customs Union negatively. Russian and Kazakh wheat and grains already dominate our market,” Mr Jumabekov told the Conway Bulletin. “With even fewer barriers to trade with these countries, we will stop growing even a small proportion of our own food. No-one will till the land.”
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Trade between Georgia and Russia increased by a third in the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2013, Georgia’s statistics agency said. Relations between Georgia and Russia have improved recently. Russia has allowed Georgia to export wine, water and other products once again.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has tightened entry rules for Tajik migrants, media reported, threatening a major source of Tajikistan’s income. Tajik citizens will now only be allowed to enter Russia on their official passport and not ID cards. Remittances from Russia make up 50% of Tajikistan’s GDP.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)
JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Reports on the internet have surfaced which suggest that unrest may be brewing in Karakalpakstan, the remote western region of Uzbekistan. Karakalpakstan is officially an autonomous republic although in practice this mean little. Reports said protesters demonstrating at job cuts at a gas processing plant had been arrested.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)