OCT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A joint European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and EU project will make 2.5m euros available to small and medium sized enterprises in Turkmenistan. The project will run for three years and give Turkmen SMEs access to business advisers as well as funds.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
SEPT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said a batch of highly enriched uranium had been flown out of Uzbekistan to a site in Russia. The IAEA oversaw the project to remove the highly enriched uranium from a Tashkent research lab.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Looking to court China, Kyrgyzstan’s deputy PM Valery Dil said China should buy one of the country’s commercial banks. China is a vital investor for Central Asian states.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
YEREVAN, SEPT. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a surprise move, Russian state-owned electricity company Inter RAO sold the Armenian utility company Electric Networks of Armenia JSC (ENA) to Tashir Group, a Russian real estate holding owned by Armenian-born billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
ENA is the 100% owner of Armenia’s electricity distribution network giving Mr Karapetyan major influence in his homeland where electricity has become a political issue. This year Forbes Russia ranked him as the 26th richest person in Russia with an estimated wealth of $4b.
The sale provides Inter RAO with an exit from Armenia where it had wanted to increase the price of electricity by 17% to make up for the drop in the value of the dram currency. This price increase angered people and thousands demonstrated in Yerevan, forcing the government to promise to subsidise prices.
Rumours that Inter RAO were looking for a buyer had been circulating since mid-September and had focused on Mr Karapetyan. He confirmed the deal in short statement.
“Tashir Group takes full responsibility for the management of the ENA,” he said.
Mr Karapetyan is the brother of Karen, a member of the Armenian parliament.
He immediately promised that his purchase of ENA would not mean that electricity price rises were back on the agenda.
“On a parity basis with the government of Armenia, the company will [compensate part of] the difference between tariffs before and after indexation on Aug. 1 2015,” he said.
And the deal had the backing of the Armenian government which wanted to reduce anti-Russia sentiment that had built up over the proposed electricity price rises. Russia is a key ally of Armenia.
Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan said: “Meeting with our request, within a short period of time Tashir group negotiated and signed a contract with Inter RAO for the purchase of energy assets, for which we express our gratitude.”
Details of the deal were not disclosed. Tashir Group has a high profile in Armenia. It owns around three dozen shopping malls, hotels and office blocks in Russia and Armenia, including one which houses 400 birds, reptile and amphibians.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
OCT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mining companies dominated the news this week from stock markets selling shares in Central Asian and South Caucasian companies.
London-listed KAZ Minerals lost 30% in one week before rising slightly to 91p. What was striking, though, was that the trade volume surpassed 25m shares, a weekly turnaround that was only seen during a surge in August and during another sharp fall in mid-January.
Central Asia Metals was essentially stable this week in London at around 155-158p.
Toronto-listed Centerra Gold fell again. This week, the Kyrgyzstan- focused mining company lost around 6% to end the week at 7.29 Canadian dollars.
Central Asia-focused oil companies showed mixed results. Nostrum Oil & Gas shares lost around 4% this week, down to 462p. This fall was linked to the ongoing saga with Tethys Petroleum on the takeover.
Kazakhstan-focused Roxi Petroleum performed well this wekek, as it climbed back to 10p, an 18% surge in seven days, triggered by the positive interim results for H1 2015 it published on Sept. 29.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s deputy energy minister Uzakbai Karabalin said Tengizchevroil (TCO) could freeze its expansion project due to low oil prices. TCO is the consortium, lead by the US’ Chevroil, developing the Tengiz oil field in West Kazakhstan. TCO accounts for roughly one-third of Kazakhstan’s oil production. Freezing the upgrade project may have a significantly negative effect on Kazakhstan’s oil output.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
ALMATY, SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an effort to re-invigorate itself, London-traded KMG EP appointed the tech-savvy Kurmangazy Iskaziyev as its new CEO.
KMG EP is the upstream branch of Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company Kazmunaigas. The company’s earnings have dropped because of low oil prices and a decline in production. Some upstream operations have been suspended.
Mr Iskaziyev replaces Abat Nurseitov, who was CEO when the company needed to generate cash quickly. It sold its stake in the Kashagan oil project and issued Eurobonds to raise capital.
Christopher Hopkinson, KMG EP’s chairman, said Mr Iskaziyev was a veteran of the company, having served as the CEO of Embamunaigas.
“Mr Iskaziyev has extensive experience in applying new technologies and increasing production efficiency,” Mr Hopkinson said.
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(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)
SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – TeliaSonera last week sounded its retreat from Central Asia after trying to fight back against allegations of corruption and bribery made against its companies in the region over the past three years.
It’s a humbling moment for Telia- Sonera, the Stockholm-based mobile operator, that once had ambitions to dominate the South Caucasus and Central Asia region.
The company which has most undermined TeliaSonera’s reputation and made its position untenable was Ucell, its Uzbek subsidiary.
Prosecutors across Europe and in the US have launched investigations into alleged bribes of up to $325m that TeliaSoneria may have paid a Gibraltar-based company in 2007 and 2008
to access the Uzbek mobile phone market. The Gibraltar company was called Takilant and was closely linked to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
And if the allegations have been TeliaSonera’s undoing, they have also undermined Ms Karimova,
Once touted as a near-certain to replace her father, she is now under house arrest in Tashkent. Most of her allies are in jail and her assets in Europe have been seized.
When TeliaSonera does finally offload its Uzbek subsidiary it will have left an indelible mark on Uzbekistan’s history — in the mobile phone market, in corporate governance and in politics.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 19 2015, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — City planners in Almaty confirmed that McDonald’s would open its first restaurant in the former Alatau cinema in the centre of the city next year, sparking debate over the US fast food chain’s entry into Kazakhstan.
The old Alatau cinema has been derelict for years but is loved by many people living in Almaty as an iconic part of the city’s architecture.
Karim Toktabayev, a businessman, is part of the campaign team trying to stop McDonald’s from moving into the cinema building.
“I am neutral towards opening of McDonald’s. I cannot say I am against it but I am very much against the demolition of the (former cinema) building,” he said. “Why do we need to demolish this building? Why can’t we save it? If we demolish all the old buildings we will not have any history left.”
Others, though, are more excited about McDonald’s opening. For many Kazakhs it has been a source of irritation that McDonalds, one of the most famous brands in the world never operated a restaurant in the country. Now that wrong can be put right.
“No matter where it opens, I am happy that it will open. We have plenty of cinemas in the city, why should it matter if we open it in one of these cinemas?” said Sholpan Alibekova, a student.
McDonalds has said it will probably open in the first quarter of 2016.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Baku Steel Company (BSC) will invest in Iran, Mehdi Karbasian, the Iranian deputy minister of industry told the Trend news agency. Last week, Mr Karbasian visited Azerbaijan’s capital Baku and said BSC, a privately owned company, is particularly interested in two Iranian projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)