MARCH 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s rail network recorded a total revenue of 223m manat ($30m) in 2013, roughly the same as in 2012, media reported. International organisations are ploughing millions of dollars into reviving the Soviet-era railway network. Cargo shipments generated over 90% of the revenue.
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(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s parliament voted to tinker with the country’s constitution and pass some of the president’s powers to the PM. President Islam Karimov first suggested the changes in December last year. It may be that he has been forced to reduce his powers by his increasingly powerful rivals in the security services.
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(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The third government coalition of Kyrgyzstan’s relatively young parliamentary democracy collapsed after the Ata-Meken faction walked out, accusing PM Jantoro Satybaldiev of corruption.
The coalition collapse ends Mr Satybaldiev’s premiership and throws up questions over Kyrgyzstan’s negotiations with Canada’s Centerra Gold over ownership of the Kumtor Gold mine — worth roughly 10% of Kyrgyz GDP. Mr Satybaldiev has stood up to demands to nationalise the mine and earlier this year negotiated a new equity deal. It’s unclear if that deal will still stand after his exit.
The three-party coalition had ruled Kyrgyzstan since September 2012 but a furore over the early release from jail of a Chechen crime baron and accusations that Mr Satybaldiev personally profited from the rebuilding of the south of the country after riots in 2010 have dogged his premiership.
The economy, too, has limped along, frustrating many.
Just how the coalition collapse will affect President Almazbek Atambayev reminds to be seen. He may have to call a parliamentary election to form a new government. A change in Kyrgyzstan’s constitution handed it a powerful parliament in October 2010.
One thing is certain, though, the latest government collapse highlights how politically unstable Kyrgyzstan is.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In another sign of relations between Azerbaijan and Iran improving, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and the Azerbaijani special envoy to Tehran Kamaladdin Heydarov met to discuss ties. They both stressed that relations between the two countries were improving after a tense few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Issues of sovereign integrity are close to Azerbaijan’s heart. Its government, after all, still lays claim to Nagorno-Karabakh — the mountainous region in the South Caucasus that Azerbaijan and Armenia fought over in the early 1990s.
A UN organised cease-fire still holds the peace in Nagorno-Karabakh, ruled by pro-Armenia forces.
All this makes Russia’s moves in Crimea more complex for Azerbaijan to deal with. Just how does it position itself?
Relations with Russia have been strained over the past few years but it still doesn’t want to antagonise its large, and powerful neighbour.
Azerbaijan has also become increasingly important to the West over its energy supplies and deliveries.
In short it needs to tread a careful line.
This is what Azerbaijani foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, looked as if he was trying to achieve when he told a press conference: “We want a speedy solution to all these issues in Ukraine. Azerbaijan respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations.”
Neither an endorsement of Russia’s policies in Crimea nor a call for Russian forces to pull out of Ukraine.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A rare admission from a Kazakh insider that the country’s energy policies may not be working hints at future fuel price increases, analysts have said.
Sauat Mynbayev, chairman of state-owned KazMunaiGas, said sending Kazakh oil to China to be processed into fuel and then re-importing it to make up for a shortfall in domestic refining capacity has become too expensive.
“The transit operations regarding the refining of Kazakhstan’s oil in China has become unprofitable,” media quoted him as saying.
Analysts immediately unpicked his statement. What this meant, they said, was that fuel prices would rise shortly.
And that, as the government knows, will be deeply unpopular.
Oil-rich Kazakhstan has a chronic lack of refining capacity. The three refineries at Shymkent, Pavlodar and Atyrau are often under repair. New refineries are only scheduled to come on-stream in five or six years time.
To make up for the shortfall, Kazakhstan is importing refined fuel from China and Russia. It is also sending unrefined fuel into China for processing and then shipping it back over the border.
Added to this complex arrangement is Kazakhstan’s 20% currency devaluation in February which makes imports even more expensive.
Mr Mynbayev has just been made head of Kazakhstan’s Greco-Roman wrestling federation, a position that underlines his insider credentials.
For an insider to admit a policy problem is almost unheard of in Kazakhstan. As analysts have now warned, expect fuel price increases.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan has mobilised its military reserves along its border with Afghanistan after an alleged firefight with Taliban militants in February, media reported. A Taliban spokesman has denied any involvement in the firefight that killed a handful of Turkmen border guards.
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(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has thrown its support behind the Azerbaijani government’s order to banks to stop lending so much cash to consumers.. At a press briefing the IMF head in Azerbaijan, Raja Almarzoqi, said: “A decrease in the share of consumer loans would be beneficial.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz government has drawn up a six year plan to improve its aviation safety, media reported. Media quoted Erkin Isakov, head of the civil aviation authority, listing the problems. “Insufficient funding, low professional level of staff, employee turnover, discrepancy in standards, as well as an imperfect legal framework,” Mr Iskaov was quoted as saying.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)
MARCH 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an attempt to boost its technology sector, Armenia’s government approved a law that will offer IT start-up companies a tax break. Under the package IT companies with less than 15 people will not be taxed on profit for three years. Earlier this year Armenia unveiled its version of the iPad — an Armtab.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)