JAN. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Kazkommertsbank’s long-term credit to CCC from B- because of a fall in the value of the tenge. Fitch said: “The downgrade reflects a significant increase in the volume of problem (mostly foreign currency-denominated) exposures, primarily as a result of the tenge’s devaluation.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 22 2016, ALMATY/Kazakhstan (The Conway Bulletin) — Bus drivers in Kazakhstan’s financial capital have been striking because of the introduction of an electronic ticketing system which they say makes their job harder, one side of a row that highlights the problems introducing modern ticketing systems into Soviet-era systems brings.
Under the new system, passengers buy a day pass for the bus system for 400 tenge and tap in and out on a monitor in the body of the bus. Under the old system, passengers bought separate tickets for each journey.
From Oct. 1, Almaty was the first city in Kazakhstan to operate an electronic ticket system. Until Jan. 11 it ran alongside the previous token system. Since then, though, it has become the only way for passengers to pay their travel fares. And many don’t like it.
Kuralai Abenova, a frequent user of public transport said: “I like this cashless system but I am afraid I’d forget this card at home. If I ride without this card, I will be fined.”
According to the head of Almaty’s public transport network, Dauren Alimbekov, the new ticketing system cost $12m to introduce.
His staff also said that the bus drivers who went on strike and were deemed to be in breach of their contract would be sacked.
As for the bus drivers they have said that up to 40% of the passengers now ride the bus for free.
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(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 100 women covered in grey sheets marched in protest to Kazkommertsbank and Bank Center Credit to complain about how they treat mortgage holders, their second protest this month. The protesters said that they have struggled to pay their debts since the the tenge lost 50% of its value during a devaluation in August. The authorities in Kazakhstan fear economic problems will trigger social discontent.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Although not an energy producing country, Georgia is also suffering heavily from the continued low oil prices, PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said during a speech at the Davos Economic Forum. He said that as an oil trading nation, investment linked to energy has dried up over the past year. Mr Kvirikashvili again said that the government was looking into a 0% tax scheme on reinvested profits.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ameriabank, Armenia’s largest bank, said it wants to list its shares on the London stock exchange, after it received an investment of around $100m from international lenders, including the EBRD and the World Bank’s IFC.
If Ameriabank does list on LSE, it would be the first Armenian bank, or company even, to be publicly traded on a Western stock exchange. In the South Caucasus it would be the second publicly traded bank after Bank of Georgia.
Ameriabank’s chairman Andrew Mkrtchyan said the bank plans an IPO in the next two or three years.
“Our aspiration is an IPO (initial public offering) and to try to triple our balance sheet in the next three years,” Mr Mkrtchyan told Reuters.
The EBRD said it paid $30m for an equity stake of around 20% in Ameriabank and has pledged an additional $10m for the bank’s asset growth.
“This is the largest single-ticket equity deal the EBRD has signed in the region to date,” the EBRD said in a statement.
By becoming a shareholder, the EBRD has committed to growing the bank in Armenia.
“As a shareholder the EBRD will support Ameriabank’s development, with a special emphasis on corporate governance,” Mark Davis, head of the EBRD Yerevan office, said.
The World Bank’s IFC also provided Ameriabank with a $50m loan to increase its lending capacity.
For Armenia, the investments by the EBRD and the IFC are a vote of confidence in its banking sector and are especially important at a time when currencies and economies in the region are depreciating or falling back on earlier growth spurts.
For foreign investors, an Ameriabank IPO would give them a chance to buy into an Armenian corporation for the first time.
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(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ozenmunaigas, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company Kazmunaigas, denied reports in the media that it has received preferential treatment over taxes owed to the government. In a separate statement, Kazmunaigas said that Ozenmunaigas’s break-even oil price for the first three quarters of 2015 was $65/barrel, above the average global price of $55/barrel.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan is trying to recover up to $1m of assets frozen in bank accounts in Europe belonging to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, media reported. Ms Karimova has been under house arrest in Tashkent for nearly two years. She was once considered a potential successor to her father. Swiss authorities are investigating her for money laundering.
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(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — French DIY retailer Leroy Merlin will open its first shop in Kazakhstan in 2018. Construction work will start in Q4 2016. The new store will be located in the Aport Mall, Kazakhstan’s largest mall, on the outskirts of Almaty. The company said it will invest 10b tenge ($27m) in the shop.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Jersey-based Highland Gold Mining said it appointed a new CEO to oversee its operations in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Highland’s operations are mostly focused in Russia, but it is exploring the Unkurtash gold mine, located near Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan. Denis Alexandrov, formerly Highland’s finance director, takes over as CEO from Valery Oyf who remains a director.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)
JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azercell, one of the largest telecoms companies in Azerbaijan, said it will lay off 60 workers, around 8% of its employees in the country. Azercell is TeliaSonera’s subsidiary company in Azerbaijan. It said in a statement that the worsening economic conditions in the country are directly affecting the company’s financial health.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)