Tag Archives: business

OPEC agrees to allow Kazakhstan to increase its oil production quota

MARCH 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — OPEC, the Saudi Arabia-dominated oil exporting group agreed to allow Kazakhstan to raise its output. OPEC members had cut production to boost oil prices. Now that prices have increased, Brent crude is at around $69/barrel — its highest since the end of 2019, OPEC has loosened restrictions. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, along with Russia, are not OPEC members but had gone along with the cuts. From April, Kazakhstan can boost its output by 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), up from its current level of 1,437,000bpd. Azerbaijan, though, has agreed to maintain its output at 595,000 bpd.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Tajik labourers say that Chinese firms abuse them

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DUSHANBE/MARCH 5 (The Bulletin) — Tajik labourers working for a Chinese firm constructing a new government building in Dushanbe have complained of poor conditions and harassment, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported (March 5).

The Tajik workers refused to give their names to reporters because they said that if they were caught complaining, they would be fired. “All heavy and manual work in construction is done by Tajiks, and local workers wear yellow helmets and Chinese wear red hats. Most of them are employers, engineers and office workers,” one worker told RFE/RL.

Tajikistan is heavily in debt to China which has given dozens of soft loans to build roads, new government buildings and beautify Dushanbe and other cities.

Activists have said that Chinese companies’ attitude towards different workers has been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Most of the workers here are former migrants who can’t go to Russia because the border is closed,” said another person working on the site. Remittances from migrant workers typically make up around half of Tajikistan’s GDP.

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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

India creates coronavirus air corridor with Uzbekistan

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MARCH 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — In what some analysts have described as a case of coronavirus realpolitik, India added Uzbekistan to a so-called ‘air bubble’ that allows Indians to travel to other countries with only limited restrictions. India has now set up ‘air bubbles’ with 27 countries. It is trying to build up influence in Central Asia and sees Uzbekistan as its best route.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbekistan aims to increase fruit exports to China

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MARCH 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan wants to expand the range of fruit that it exports to China, which is fast becoming Central Asia’s main export market for nearly all its goods, Muslim Khalilov, a senior Uzbek official in the government’s export promotion department, told the freshplaza.com website. Mr Khalilov said that Uzbekistan already exports 14 types of fruit to China and that it wants permits to export lemons, grapes, plums, peaches and persimmons to China too.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

WizzAir says that it is still too early to resume post-pandemic Kutaisi operations

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MARCH 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — WizzAir, the Hungarian low-cost airline, said that although the coronavirus pandemic is easing, it is still too early to say when it will resume flights from Kutaisi in Georgia. WizzAir started flying from Kutaisi in 2012 and had turned it into a major hub linking Georgia to Europe. At its peak in 2019, WizzAir had flown to 39 destinations from Kutaisi.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Car imports to Azeraijan rise despite coronavirus pandemic

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MARCH 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — Despite the damage to Azerbaijan’s economy from the coronavirus pandemic, car imports increased last year to 53,729 from 47,709, a rise of 12%, Safar Mehdiyev, chairman of the Azerbaijani state customs committee, said. This is double the number of car imports into Azerbaijan compared to 2018.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Azerbaijan to build hotel online booking site for domestic tourists

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MARCH 3 2021 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s government launched a tender to design and build the first domestic online hotel booking platform, media reported. With international travel still restricted, Azerbaijan’s government wants to focus on domestic tourists. The system will only be available to Azerbaijani citizens and foreigners with residency permits.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Kazakhstan wants more foreign investment in its agriculture

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MARCH 2 2021 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan wants to attract investments of $9.5b in its agricultural sector by 2025, PM Askar Mamin said during a government meeting. The Kazakh government sees its agricultural sector as an underused resource that could be doing more to attract foreign investors. Some Western companies have already invested in cattle farms to sell beef across Central Asia, where it is growing in popularity, and also to China.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Azebaijan’s Buta Airways to start flying to Tbilisi

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MARCH 1 2021 (The Bulletin) — Buta Airways, the government-owned Azerbaijani low cost airline, said that it would resume its flight schedule between Baku and Tbilisi on March 19, an important step towards normalising aviation routes in the South Caucasus. AZAL, the Azerbaijani flag carrier, set up Buta Airways in Sept. 2017 to fly mainly to Turkey and Russia.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Uzbekistan restarts two power station units

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MARCH 1 2021 (The Bulletin) — Two units of one of Central Asia’s largest power stations, the Soviet-built gas-fired Syrdarya TPP in Uzbekistan, were turned back on after renovation. The firing up of units 5 and 6 will ease pressure on Central Asia’s electricity supply, especially in Uzbekistan. Russian Power Machines has been overseeing the renovation. In 2019 it repaired units 3 and 4 and later this year it expects to complete the project when units 9 and 10 are restarted.

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— This story was published in issue 474 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 5 2021