Tag Archives: business

China re-jigs ownership of Turkmenistan’s gas pipeline

NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — PetroChina, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned energy company CNPC, said it wants to sell a 50% stake in the Central Asia-China gas pipeline for $2.4b in order to turn a profit this year, a requirement in its government mandate.

The likely buyer of the 50% stake in the Central Asia-China pipeline is another Chinese company, state-owned China Reform Holdings, Bloomberg reported.

The ownership switch shouldn’t change operations at the pipeline, which mainly pumps gas from Turkmenistan, but its does highlight both China’s ownership of energy infrastructure in Central Asia and, also, how pressure on profits in China is having an impact in the region.

China’s economy has slowed this year, undermining commodities prices around the world and triggering a switch in policy from China across various industries. In the oil and gas sector, it plans to unbundle upstream and midstream operations, a process that will have an effect on oil and gas fields across Central Asia as well as on pipelines.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Qatar Airways flies to Armenia

NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Qatar Airways, the flagship carrier in Qatar, will open a new route to and from Armenia. The Yerevan- Doha-Yerevan connection will begin operations in 2016 and ensure an air link between Armenia and the Persian Gulf region after UAE’s Etihad pulled out of the country in April.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Uzbek authorities look power upgrade plan

NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Looking to boost power production to meet rising demand, the Uzbek authorities unveiled a $900m upgrade programme for its hydropower stations. As populations increase and living standards rise, demand for power has risen across Central Asia and the South Caucasus pressuring the authorities into investing in their power generation infrastructure. Earlier this month the Uzbek government announced a privatisation plan that included one of its cement makers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Uzbekistan increases cement production

NOV. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has increased its cement production by 7% so far this year, media reported quoting industry executives (Nov. 24). They also said that they plan to add more capacity to their production. Uzbekistan is a net exporter of cement. It has become big business and is a major employer.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Air Armenia bankrupts

NOV. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Air Armenia, the national flag carrier, lost its appeal against a bankruptcy order.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

VTB Bank injects $40m into Kazakh subsidiary

NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian lender VTB Bank said it had injected $40m into its Kazakh subsidiary to increase its total capitalisation by 44% to around 24b tenge ($78m). The move is more evidence of a worsening economic outlook. In the first three-quarters of the year, VTB Bank recorded losses of 791m tenge ($2.6m), compared to a 850m tenge profit in the same period last year ($4.6m at the time).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Air Armenia loses bankruptcy order appeal

NOV. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — An appeals court in Armenia upheld a bankruptcy order against Air Armenia, dealing a major blow to the national flag carrier’s chances of survival.

Earlier this month a court declared Air Armenia bankrupt because it owed HSBC Armenia over 2m euro.

After losing an appeal against the bankruptcy order, Arsen Averisyan, majority owner of Air Armenia, said he would be able to pay back the loan once he had cashed in various assets.

“We can’t cash these bonds now, but if creditors uphold the recovery program, then we will remain in the market. We have 50 days,” he said.

Until 2013, Air Armenia had only flown cargo flights. After the bankruptcy of Armavia, though, it stepped into the gap and started up an ambitious network of passenger routes from Yerevan to various Russian cities, Paris, Frankfurt and Athens.

Mr Averisyan wanted to adopt the Armenian national livery and become its biggest and most important airline.

But Air Armenia’s timing was poor. The same year that Air Armenia started its passenger operation, the Armenian government liberalised air routes in and out of the country. This increased competition and drove down prices. The price of tickets on the most important routes between Yerevan and Moscow and St Petersburg plunged.

Opposition politicians have blamed the liberalisation for pushing Air Armenia into bankruptcy.

After only one year of flying passenger routes, Air Armenia stopped flights altogether.

It was handed a lifeline earlier in August when a deal was agreed with East Prospect Fund, a Ukrainian company registered in the British Virgin Islands, to buy a 49% stake in the company for $68.6m.

This cash injection, though, was clearly not enough to pay off Air Armenia’s debts. Air Armenia’s needs another deal if it is to survive.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

CAML to expand in Kazakhstan

NOV. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Copper producer Central Asia Metals said it received government approval for the expansion of its Kounrad project in central Kazakhstan. The company said construction works will start in March 2016 and the expansion will cost $19.5m. Central Asia Metals also said it is set to meet its production target of 12,000 tonnes in 2015, which would represent a 7.7% increase compared to 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Tethys Petroleum extends Kazakhstan’s Olisol deadline

NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canada-based Tethys Petroleum extended an exclusivity period by 14 days for Kazakhstan’s Olisol to submit final details of its $35m buyout offer to Dec. 7. Tethys has also now appointed Alexander Abramov and William Wells to its board meeting, a pre-condition of the offer.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)

Azerbaijan’s Sofaz to diversify portfolio

NOV. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Without giving specific detail, Israfil Mammadov, the deputy executive director of Azerbaijan’s sovereign wealth fund Sofaz told Bloomberg News that the fund would be diversifying its investment portfolio next year. Sofaz has already diversified into real estate, gold and equities. Earlier this year, Sofaz bought a landmark shop on one of Tokyo’s most well-known retail streets.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 258, published on Nov. 27 2015)