Tag Archives: business

Turkmen President woos Qatar

APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov invited Qatar’s business community to invest in the construction of the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The first investment agreement was signed by the consortium shareholders in April 2015. The project is considered pivotal in connecting South and Central Asia as well as for securing the long-term future of Afghanistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

WB approves loan for Armenian power companies

APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Bank approved a $30m loan to aid Armenia’s troubled power sector. The aim of the project is to give credit to state- owned power generation companies which have been losing money and rung up millions of dollars in debt. The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) has accumulated a deficit of $104m. Power generation, and how to pay for electricity, are sensitive subjects in the region.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Uzbek Police arrest GM Uzbekistan director

MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek police arrested Tokhirzhon Zhalilov, described by media as the managing director of GM Uzbekistan, and accused him of faking exports to Russia.

Mr Zhalilov, together with other officials, allegedly masterminded a scheme to send cars booked for export to Russia to Shymkent, a city in Kazakhstan near the border with Uzbekistan. Instead of being shipped on to Russia, these cars were sent back to Uzbekistan and re-sold. This, according to sources at Uzbekistan’s state-owned car-maker quoted by the Uzbek service of RFE/RL, allowed Mr Zhalilov to amass illicit funds, which he then hid offshore.

The Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta said that, despite promises made earlier this year, GM Uzbekistan had failed to deliver shipments of its new Ravon model by the end of April.

So far, only the US-funded RFE/RL and Rossiyskaya Gazeta have reported the alleged arrest. Uzbekistan’s prosecutor, also, has not confirmed Mr Zhalilov’s arrest.

GM Uzbekistan is a joint venture between US-based GM and state ownedUzavtosanoat.

It is one of the largest car producers in Central Asia and one of Uzbekistan’s largest industrial units.

It mainly exports to Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Telenor official quits after Uzbek bribery investigation

MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norwegian telecoms company Telenor said its CFO Richard Olav Aa and General Counsel Pal Wien Espen resigned after an internal investigation on alleged corruption at VimpelCom — of which Telenor owns 33% — in Uzbekistan. The investigation concluded that although there had not been any corruption within Telenor, weak structures within the company had allowed corruption within VimpelCom to exist. In February, VimpelCom admitted to paying $115m in bribes to officials in Uzbekistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Kazakhstan bans Kyrgyz potato

MAY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s ministry of agriculture said it has banned imports of potatoes from Kyrgyzstan following an outbreak of Globodera rostochiensis, a pest that the Kazakh authorities found in several imported shipments. The Kazakh government sent back around 1,000 tonnes of potatoes to Kyrgyzstan citing international trade agreements between the two countries.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Stock market: Centerra gold

MAY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Centerra Gold shares rebounded 5% to 6.93 Canadian dollars last Friday after the regulator of the Toronto Stock Exchange briefly halted trading the day before, when news came through of a police raid at the office of a Centerra- owned company in Kyrgyzstan.

The stock continued to float around 7 Canadian dollars, settling on 7.18 yesterday, despite what could be regarded as poor quarterly results.

Centerra, though, still handed out its quarterly dividend of 0.04 Canadian dollars, in line with previous payments, which is something that other companies in the region have been dodging over the past few months if results have been lower-then-expected.

Low gold prices and slower-than-expected gold production have hit the company’s performance.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Tajik Air to fly to Beijing

APRIL 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s flagship carrier Tajik Air will start its Dushanbe-Beijing connection on May 2, a move that could boost trade ties with China. The direct flight will operate every Monday. Previously, Urumqi, in the Xinjiang region, was Tajik Air’s only Chinese destination.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Tajik Sodirot Bonk forces leave

APRIL 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tojik Sodirot Bonk, one of the biggest banks in Tajikistan, is forcing staff to take unpaid leave, media reported, an indication of the serious impact of an economic downturn. There were reports earlier this year of runs on banks. Tajikistan has been hit hard by a recession in Russia which has dried up remittance flows.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Gazprom Armenia applies discount

APRIL 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gazprom Armenia, the Russian owned gas distributor, said it will apply to the country’s regulator to lower consumer prices by 6%. The discount will be limited to households that consume 10,000 cubic metres of gas a year, the company said. Earlier this month, Gazprom said it would give the Armenian government a 9% discount on the gas it supplies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Kyrgyz police raids Centerra

APRIL 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Toronto-listed miner Centerra Gold said that Kyrgyz police have raided the Bishkek offices of its wholly owned Kumtor Gold Company, reigniting a vicious row that has involved the miner and the government. For years, Centerra and the government have rowed about ownership of the Kumtor gold mine. Kumtor accounts for around 7% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP and is the country’s largest industrial asset.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)