JAN. 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan said he wanted to boost trilateral ties with Iran and Turkmenistan to potentially import Turkmen gas via Iran. Armenia has developed relations with Iran over the past few years. Iran and Turkmenistan are yet to respond to Mr Karapetyan’s proposal.
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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)
DEC. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — At least four soldiers, three Armenian and one Azerbaijani, were killed in fighting between the two neighbours, media reported quoting officials from both Armenia and Azerbaijan. The skirmishes are the most serious around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh since dozens died in April 2016. A UN-brokered deal has held an uneasy peace over the region since 1994.
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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)
DEC. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank cut the country’s key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, continuing to slash the cost of borrowing. Armenia’s interest rate measured 8.75% at the beginning of 2016 but was steadily cut to stimulate prices rises and economic growth.
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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)
DEC. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s parliament ratified an agreement on introducing the Eurasian Economic Union’s customs code into law. The EEU has developed a customs code to increase integration within the group. Russian officials have previously said that the code will be finalised at the end of December.
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(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)
ALMATY, DEC. 21/22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iranian Leader Hassan Rouhani toured Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, a tour that underlines Iran’s ambitions in the region.
Western sanctions on Iran were eased this year, triggering a wave of enthusiasm of a potential return of Western business but, aside from a handful of high-profile deals, this has failed to materialise. Analysts have said that, instead, Iran and Mr Rouhani have turned their focus on Central Asia where they have built up strong business and economic ties over the past few years.
This was highlighted in a statement released by Mr Rouhani’s press team before he left Tehran. He said that Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan formed a vital part of Iran’s trade corridors.
“We will gain access to Europe and the Black Sea through Armenia, and to the northern and eastern countries through Kazakhstan,” he said.
“Also, China is seeking to connect its railway to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran through Kyrgyzstan”.
And positive bilateral relations were on show throughout Mr Rouhani’s trip. Speaking after his meeting in Astana with Mr Rouhani, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev said: “An agreement was reached to strengthen the political influence of the two countries within the framework of international organizations such as the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, SCO.”
The issue of the UN is particularly important as Kazakhstan is starting two years as one of the non-permanent Security Council members.
Prior to landing in Kazakhstan, Mr Rouhani had visited Armenia. It has developed ties based on swapping its gas for Armenia’s electricity.
From Kazakhstan, Mr Rouhani travelled to Bishkek where he received public support from president Almazbek Atambayev for Iranian membership of the Russia and China led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Iran applied to join the group in 2008 but Western sanctions slowed its application. Now those sanctions have been lifted, Iranian membership has been talked of again.
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(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)
DEC. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s parliament ratified a $55m loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) aimed at developing the country’s tourist sector. Much of the loan has been earmarked for Armenia’s regions.
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(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)
DEC. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economic activity index recorded a rise of 2.3% in November compared to the same month in 2015, the state statistics agency said, suggesting some positive news after a slew of poor economic headlines. The biggest risers were the service sectors and industrial output which recorded rises of 6.8% and 7.8.%. The biggest drop was in construction, a key economic driver in Armenia. It fell more than 10%.
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(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)
DEC. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Bank revised down its growth estimates for Armenia to 0.4% from 2.8% earlier this year because of a sharp economic contraction in the past six months. Gohar Gyulumyan, the World Bank’s senior economist in Armenia, said that growth had been strong in the first half of the year but had fallen off since July. Growth in 2016 would be 2-2.5%, she said.
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(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)
DEC. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD sent a $10m loan to Ameriabank, Armenia’s largest bank by assets, to promote credit to women-led small and medium enterprises. The EBRD also sent a $3b loan to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, one of the largest lenders to Armenia’s agriculture sector. The loan is part of the EBRD’s Women in Business programme, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
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(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)f
NOV. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economy shrunk by 2.6% in the third quarter of the year, the country’s statistics agency said, confirming the poor economic sentiment in the country. In the third quarter of 2015 Armenia’s economy had grown by over 3%. Armenia is reliant on Russia which is suffering from a harsh economic downturn, linked to a fall in oil prices that has tipped it into recession.
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(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)