May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Halyk Bank, the second largest bank in Kazakhstan, said its profit in the first three months of the year had almost doubled. Importantly, Halyk said much of this profit increase was due to a fall in the amount of poor loans on its books, an issue Kazakh banks have been grappling with since the 2008/9 economic crisis.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
ASTANA /Kazakhstan, May 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — As a spectacle it was quite brilliant.
This was theatre with former British PM Tony Blair playing the lead role. He may now be very grey but Blair has lost none of his aura. Make no mistake, at this year’s Astana Economic Forum he was the star attraction.
Blair’s role was a short one. He appeared for around two hours on Thursday afternoon, the second day of the three-day annual event (May 21 – 23).
He spoke twice for about three or four minutes from his white armchair in the middle of the main stage during a debate by 21 leaders or former leaders
Blair said that international organisations such as the UN needed to keep up with the shifting power dynamics of the global economy. He also said that Britain should remain in Europe.
These utterances may have been forgettable, and they were, but that wasn’t really the point of Blair’s appearance. He was there not for his wit and wisdom, he was there because he was paid to be there.
Blair has worked for Kazakhstan for nearly three years as a consultant. News reports have said his company earns around $15m a year for this service, although his office has always been tight-lipped on the details. His contract also appears to include a clause which says he must attend the Astana Economic Forum, one of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s pet projects.
Blair far out-ranked the other men, and the one woman, on the stage for this session.
He sat next to Kazakh PM Karim Massimov who also played a starring role. They referred to each other, rather touchingly, by their first names and shared the odd joke while other speakers were talking.
It was, as one wit in the audience, said: “The Tony and Karim Show.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian Orthodox groups rallied in Tbilisi against a new law designed to protect same-sex relationships. Media estimated that there were several hundred people at the rally, underlining the conservative nature of Georgian society. The Georgian Orthodox Church retains a lot of power in Georgia.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament ratified a joint air defence agreement with Russia media reported. The deal further binds Russia and Kazakhstan’s militaries. Russia already had a similar deal in place with Belarus and has been working on a deal incorporating Armenia.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Forces in the Georgian rebel state of South Ossetia released 17 people they had been holding after they strayed into their territory, media reported. Reports said the 17 Georgians had been picking herbs when they strayed into South Ossetia on May 10, triggering a standoff.
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(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a state visit to China, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan would boost oil exports to China. China has become Kazakhstan’s biggest energy client. It is looking for more and more energy supplies and has been consolidating its stranglehold.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The day after Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Europe, a court in Baku sentenced an opposition journalist to eight years in prison for holding illegal weapons.
The Council of Europe is the European body, covering 47 countries, that supposedly spreads Europe’s ideals of human rights and democratic elections to wider Europe.
No matter that Azerbaijan has been heavily criticised over the past few years for crushing dissent and locking up troublesome journalists. It was its turn to head the group. The chairmanship rotates in alphabetical order every six months.
Parviz Hasimli, the now imprisoned activist, was just the latest opposition reporter to be sent to prison. There have been many before him. In most cases the defendants, with good reason, have said that the charges are politically motivated.
Azerbaijan has said that it will use its presidency of the Council of Europe to fight corruption and human rights.
This sound good but could well be a hollow promise. Corruption and human rights appear to be worsening in Azerbaijan.
Instead, for Azerbaijan, its chairmanship is useful as a smokescreen.
For many of Azerbaijan’s critics, its leadership of the Council of Europe, supposed to uphold human rights across the continent, is an insult.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kamchibek Kolbayev, Kyrgyzstan’s most prominent crime lord, is set to be released from jail in June having served 1-1/2 years of a 5-year sentence, media reported.
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a non-profit organisation, refers to Kolbayev as “a serious drug pipeline entrepreneur” and a key middleman in the heroin trade moving out of Afghanistan.
Kyrgyz officials have long been accused of enmeshment in this trade and civil activists are saying that his let-off stinks of a deal.
Put on an international drug barons list by Washington in 2011, Kolbayev was extradited to Kyrgyzstan from Dubai in December 2012 and charged with various crimes including kidnap and criminal conspiracy. During his trial, Kolbayev was noted for his debonair appearance and composure.
Kolbayev’s release signals continuing rule-of-law of issues in Kyrgyzstan. In April 2013 a political scandal blew up over the release on medical grounds and subsequent departure to Grozny of Kolbayev’s main rival, ethnic Chechen mobster Aziz Batukayev.
Batukayev, it turned out, was not ill at all.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s gas export volume is set to fall by nearly 10% this year because of a decline in sales to Russia, a senior SOCAR official told Reuters. SOCAR is the Azerbaijani state energy company. This is important as gas is a major currency earner for Azerbaijan.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)
May 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin)- Kyrgyzstan will definitely aim to join the Russia-led Customs Union, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev told journalists in Shanghai where he had been meeting China’s leaders. Mr Atambayev’s statement adds extra impetus to Kyrgyzstan’s drive to join the group which also includes Kazakhstan and Belarus.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)