Tag Archives: business

Carrefour opens first store in Kazakhstan

FEB. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev toured a newly-opened Carrefour supermarket in Almaty in a publicity stunt aimed at showing that despite a collapse in both oil prices and the tenge, Kazakhstan’s economy was still prospering.

Instead, though, the video of the Mr Nazarbayev’s walk-about appeared to betray how out-of-touch he was with ordinary people.

“Why are these called dirty,” Mr Nazarbayev said pointing at a pile of unwashed root vegetables – possibly carrots, possibly potatoes. “These are normal.”

Carrefour’s Kazakhstan director, Stephane Maurier, who was walking around the supermarket with Nazarbayev, explained. “We have clean and dirty,” he said.

Mr Nazarbayev, though, wasn’t impressed. “These are better than the clean ones,” he said and again pointed at the unwashed vegetables. “You don’t know what they are washed with.”

Things didn’t improve when Mr Nazarbayev, looking stiff in his tailored suit but smiling and apparently enjoying his trip to the supermarket, visited other sections.

He said the bananas were not ripe enough, told Mr Maurier croissants were unhealthy and dangerous and had to clarify with an elderly woman shopping for bread that 70 tenge ($0.2) was an average price for a loaf.

This particular Carrefour was located in the Grand Park shopping centre in Almaty. The franchise holder is Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim Group which operates other Carrefour shops around the world.

It was the first of nine planned stores that Carrefour wants to open in Kazakhstan. Five of the stores will be located in Almaty; four in Astana.

The opening of the Carrefour stores will give Kazakhstan’s battered economy a boost, create hundreds of jobs and hand Mr Nazarbayev more photo-ops in supermarkets.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Alstom partners with Kazakh railway

FEB. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – French train-maker Alstom has bought another 25% stake in EKZ, its joint-venture in Kazakhstan with Kazakh state railway company Temir Zholy and Russia’s Transmashholding, media reported. The deal means that Alstom is now the majority partner in EKZ. It may also show Kazakhstan’s willingness to sell off part of its most cherished companies to foreigners so that it can raise cash during the worsening economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Georgia awards contract to build $2.5b Black Sea port to US-Georgian group

FEB. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia awarded a US-Georgian consortium the contract to build a $2.56b deepwater port at Anaklia on the Black Sea, a project that will bolster the country’s role as a major trade link between East and West.

The Georgian government chose the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) over two separate bids submitted by China’s state-owned PowerChina and another by Russo- Georgian venture Anaklia Industrial Eco-Park.

ADC is a joint venture between Tbilisi-based TBC Holding and US- based Conti. Mamuka Khazaradze, chairman of TBC Bank, owns TBC Holding.

Kurt Conti, Conti CEO, said in a statement: “We are looking forward to breaking ground and working with the government of Georgia to help forge new paths from Asia to Europe as well as unlocking the economic potential of Georgia’s neighbours and landlocked nations in the Caucasus.”

For Georgia, the project underlines its role as transit country for goods flowing between Asia and Europe. It hosts oil and gas pipelines running from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, has developed its road and rail networks and wants to leverage its position on the Black Sea.

And the government, which has also pledged $100m to the project, said that the deepwater port was vital.

“This will create completely new opportunities for Georgia to make full use of the Silk Road and the South Caucasus transport corridor,” PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili told the press.

The plan will also transform Anakalia, a small town on the border with the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The construction phase of the port will create an estimated 3,400 jobs, ADC told media, and a total of 6,400 people will be employed at the port when it is up and running.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Azerbaijan exports electricity

FEB. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan sent its first consignment of electricity to Turkey, the start of what it hopes will become a significant export venture. The volume of electricity sent to Turkey measured 80MW and was transmitted through the Azerbaijan- Georgia-Turkey electricity network.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Tele2 merges with Kazakhstan’s Altel

FEB. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Swedish telecoms company Tele2 said a deal to merge its operations in Kazakhstan with Altel, owned by KazakhTelecom, was close to completion. The deal was announced last November. The new company will be 51% owned by Altel and 49% by Tele2, although the voting rights will be reversed. It will have a market share of around 22%, behind Kcell and Beeline, the brand name of Russia’s Vimpelcom.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Turkmenistan increases security over TAPI

FEB. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Addressing a government meeting, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered his government to increase security over the planned TAPI pipeline that will, it is hoped, pump gas to India. Last month the Taliban destroyed a transmission line sending electricity between Uzbekistan and Kabul. For TAPI to be successful, it needs to be able to guarantee security around the route. Governments that border Afghanistan have been warning that a resurgent Taliban are posing an increasing threat to stability.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

GM Uzbekistan sales fall

FEB. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan sold 1,269 cars in Russia in January, down 37% on the same period in 2015, media reported quoting the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the European Business Association which releases data on sales. Russia is GM Uzbekistan’s main market. GM Uzbekistan is important because it is one of the few relatively successful projects with Western business in Uzbekistan. Low oil prices have caused a recession in Russia which has impacted the rest of the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Volume of Turkish goods entering Kazakhstan rises tenfold

FEB. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The volume of Turkish products entering Kazakhstan through Aktau, its main Caspian Sea port, has increased by 10 times since Russia imposed sanctions on Turkey in December, media reported quoting the Kazakh Chamber of Entrepreneurs .

Turkish producers appear to have targeted Central Asia as a decent market since Russia imposed sanctions after a Turkish warplane shot down a Russian warplane over Syria.

Products are sent to Azerbaijan, a strong Turkish ally, and then shipped over the Caspian to Aktau.

The row has put countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus in a difficult position as they need to maintain good ties with both neighbours. Russia has said it is monitoring Central Asia to make sure it is not used as a backdoor way for Turkish goods to enter the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Tecnimont to build plant in Azerbaijan

FEB. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Italy’s Maire Tecnimont signed a $180m deal with Azerbaijan’s SOCAR Polymer to build a polyethylene plant near Baku, local media reported. The plant is part of SOCAR’s petrochemical complex in Sumgayit, 30km north of Baku. SOCAR Polymer is a subsidiary of SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

TCO posts production record in Kazakhstan

FEB. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tengizchevroil, the Chevron-operated oil project near Atyrau in western Kazakhstan, produced a record 27.16m tonnes of oil in 2015, up from 26.7m tonnes in 2014, media reported quoting the company. The data underlines Tengizchevroil’s status as Kazakhstan’s biggest oil exporter. It was supposed to have been overtaken by the giant Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea by now but faulty gas pipes have had to be repaired on this project, delaying production until either the end of this year or 2017.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)