APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The 20% devaluation of the tenge earlier this year will trigger an increase in bad debt, Roman Kornev, director of financial institutions at Fitch Ratings said. The Kazakh government wants to reduce the amount of non-performing loans on banks’ portfolios.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a similar move to Russia’s controversial law of 2013, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament published a draft bill that would outlaw spreading information about gay issues. The bill is currently only published online for public discussion but this is the first step to turning it into law.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament approved increased government spending to compensate people for the 20% drop in the value of the tenge and counter rising inflation.
Overall, Kazakh government expenditure will increase by 6% to $39.1b.
The increase is more evidence of the inflationary effect of the currency devaluation on Feb. 19. Shops have increased their prices and large corporations have boosted salaries.
To calm public frustration, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev promised to increase pensions, public sector salaries and student grants. Parliament’s decision to increase government spending is simply making good on these promises.
The Kazakh government will fund the budget increase by transferring cash from the National Fund, where it keeps profits from oil revenues.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The global price of cotton, a key export for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, fell nearly 2% after the US government said that there would probably be an over-supply this year, media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — From April 1, Azerbaijan started implementing Euro-4 standards to imported cars. Azerbaijan announced that it was going to make the switch earlier this year. Euro-4 is a higher grade petrol then previously used in Azerbaijan. The move will make car imports into Azerbaijan more expensive.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sepp Blatter has spent much of his career as FIFA president fending off allegations of institutional corruption. Even so, Tajikistan must have come as a shock.
Mr Blatter visited Tajikistan as part of a tour of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan which culminated in a meeting of UEFA, Europe’s governing football body, in Astana (March 25-28).
He was greeted off the plane at Dushanbe airport by Rustam Emomali, son of President Emomai Rakhmon and head of the Tajik Football Federation. Mr Emomalii also owns and occasionally plays for FC Istiqlol, who thrashed FC Ravshan 5-0 in the Tajik Super Cup final with Blatter in attendance.
Not everyone is happy with FC Istiqlol’s dominance, though. In 2011 a match between the same two sides triggered a riot when FC Ravshan’s supporters concluded that FC Istiqlol had bought the referee.
Police arrested 20 people and at least 10 people were hospitalised during fighting between the Ravshan Ultras and the security forces.
Memories of a five year civil war (1992-97) limit opposition towards Mr Rakhmon’s presidency, although anger with the president does appear to be growing. One irk is that he directs much foreign investment towards his hometown of Danghara while other parts of the country struggle for electricity.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Under new rules designed to quash Islamic radicals, internet cafes in Uzbekistan will have to install surveillance cameras. The order was signed into law on March 19. Uzbekistan has increased surveillance generally, angering human rights campaigners.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Russian weather rocket crashed near a village in western Kazakhstan, media reported. There were no casualties. The Kazakh authorities banned further Russian rocket launches over its territory.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Bank is considering a $200m loan to Uzbekistan for the construction of a railway in the east of the country, media report. China has already agreed various loans for the Angren-Pap railway that will link the eastern Ferghana Valley area with the rest of Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Prices of basic agriculture products such as potatoes, carrots and tomatoes have risen by as much as 60% this year, media reported. A note from the ministry of agriculture said that the price rises were a seasonal issue triggered when farmers try to sell the last of the previous year’s harvest.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)