Tag Archives: business

Georgia Capital issues green bond on Irish Stock Exchange

JULY 30 (The Bulletin) — Georgia Capital, the London listed conglomerate which owns subsidiaries that produce beer, build hotels and run pharmacies, said that it had issued a so-called £250m green bond on the Irish Stock Exchange. CEO Irakli Gilauri said that the bond issue had been well-received by investors. They were issued with a 7.75% interest rate and a 5-year maturity.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Oil companies close Ashgabat offices on coronavirus fears

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JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — Petronas, the Malaysian oil and gas company, closed its office in Ashgabat after 10 of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

The closure is perhaps the strongest indication yet that despite the insistence of Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that Turkmenistan had escaped the pandemic, coronavirus has infiltrated the country.

Turkmen media has also reported that Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Company has also closed its office Ashgabat. Since a visit by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this month, masks have become commonplace in Turkmenistan and some shopping centres and bazaars have been closed.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Armenian opposition leader continues to do business despite arrest threat

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JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), has been meeting with business leaders and promising to support their efforts to stave off a recession linked to the spread of the coronavirus, media reported. This is important because at the end of last month it had appeared that prosecutors were building a case to arrest Mr Tsarukyan, one of Armenia’s richest men, on various corruption allegations.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Anaklia partners sue Georgian government

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TBILISI/JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — The Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) and one of its key investors filed separate arbitration claims against the Georgia government for cancelling its deal to build the new Black Sea port.

ADC and Bob Meijer, the investor, said that they are claiming a combined $1b for lost earnings linked to the project.

The Georgian government tore up the contract with the ADC in January because it said that ADC had failed to secure sufficient financial backing to build the new port, supposed to become Georgia’s principal entry and exit for goods being transported to and from China and Europe.

ADC, though, said that the contract was ripped up for political reasons. One of the main backers of the ADC project was, Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of TBC Bank. TBC Bank is one of Georgia’s biggest high street banks and is listed on the London Stock Exchange but last year Mr Khazaradze was arrested for corruption, allegations he has said are politically motivated.

ADC said that this row between Mr Khazaradze and the Georgian government tarnished the project.

“The Government deliberately acted to ensure that ADC could not succeed with project development. In this instance the Government abused its power because the ruling party and its leader decided the project’s success was contrary to their own political and economic interests,” ADC said in a statement.

The statement also said that the ADC was bringing its action through the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris and that Mr Meijer was pursuing his claim through the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Armenian banks improve profits despite coronavirus

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JULY 28 (The Bulletin) — Banks in Armenia increased their net profit in the first half of the year by 5.9%, media reported by quoting a banking lobby group. It said that despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which analysts said would cause a recession in Armenia, all 17 banks in the country had been profitable so far in 2020.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Water shortage triggers concerns on Tajik power generation

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DUSHANBE/JULY 28 (The Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s national energy company Barqi Tojik said that a shortage of water in its reservoirs had reduced its electricity generation capacity and forced it to cut its power exports.

Water shortages and electricity cuts are a concern for Tajikistan as power is one of its main exports. The headline Rogun dam, the biggest hydroelectric dam in the world, is due for completion by 2028 and has been earmarked to boost Tajikistan’s power exports but, without sufficient water, it could become a white elephant.

In a live TV address, a government official from the ministry of power said that water levels in the Vakhsh and Panj rivers were lower than at any time since records began.

“Today, the Nurek reservoir has 17m less water in it than last year,” he said. “If this situation continues, the reservoir will be severely depleted, and in winter there will be serious problems in providing electricity to the population and the national economy.”

The Nurek reservoir is situated about 40km from Dushanbe, slightly lower down the same river system as Rogun. This means that if there is a shortage of water for Nurek, there will be a shortage of water for Rogun.

The government blamed global warming for the water shortages.

“The process of climate change and global warming is going on rapidly on the planet, and its impact, especially this year on Tajikistan, has intensified,” the spokesman said.

The immediate concern, though, is that Tajikistan doesn’t have enough water in its reservoirs to power its electricity generating capacity. Tajikistan, Central Asia’s poorest country, has already cut electricity transmission levels to Uzbekistan and analysts are worried that it won’t be able to meet its obligations for the World Bank-backed CASA-1000 project.

By 2023, CASA-1000 should be operating a network of electricity transmission masts that will carry power generated in Tajik and Kyrgyz hydro systems, across Afghanistan into Pakistan. The West sees it as a win-win-win. Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan earn much-needed cash, Pakistan buys up much-needed power and the West earn kudos.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Uzbekistan looks for company to run national lottery

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JULY 28 (The Bulletin) — The Uzbek government is looking for a company to run its new national lottery, potentially opening up to a Western operator. The government plans a new national lottery when betting rules are relaxed next year. The current lottery, which has been the only legal form of gambling in Uzbekistan since 2007, will be scrapped.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Georgia’s TBC Bank launches online bank in Uzbekistan

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JULY 24 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s TBC Bank launched its digital subsidiary bank in Uzbekistan. TBC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has branded the bank as the first fully online bank in Uzbekistan. It has followed Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank in setting up a subsidiary in Uzbekistan but while Halyk Bank has said it is targeting lending out to businesses, TBC has said that it is targeting ordinary people.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kazakhstan Railways to sell wagon manufacturing site

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JULY 24 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan Temir Zholy plans to sell its Tulpar Wagon manufacturing plant, a factory that Kazakh officials often hold up as one of the most advanced in the country. Media reported that a joint venture between Spain’s Talgo and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy ended in 2019. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy did not say how much they expected to raise from the sale.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

China-led AIIB approves loan to Georgia

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JULY 22 (The Bulletin) — The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved a 50m loan to Georgia to help it buy more PPE clothing to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Reuters reported that the loan was jointly financed by the World Bank and is the second AIIB loan to Georgia after a $100m loan was provided in May. Critics of the AIIB have said that China uses it to spread its influence.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.