SEPT. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has doubled cheese imports from Armenia this year, media quoted the head of Russia’s statistics agency, Konstantin Laikam, as saying. Shops in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia have had to diversify their supplier base for cheese and other products to beat EU sanctions.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has become the 166th member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global body charged with developing and encouraging the safe use of nuclear power, media reported.
While Turkmenistan’s accession to the IAEA may not have any major policy implications it is another signifier that Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov wants to bring the country more into the international mainstream.
Turkmenistan normally stays away from joining international organisations.
IAEA members ratified Turkmenistan’s membership at their 59th annual summit in Vienna. also joining this year were the east African country of Djibouti, Guyana in South America and Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean.
Neutrality is enshrined in Turkmenistan’s constitution and not damaging this long-held policy would have been a key consideration for Mr Berdymukhamedov.
He has steadily moved Turkmenistan into the international mainstream, mainly to exploit Turkmenistan’s gas reserves.
It holds the world’s fourth largest gas reserves.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tengizchevroil consortium developing oil fields in west Kazakhstan awarded a “significant” contract to Scotland-based engineering company Xodus. Xodus tests the strength of rigs and other upstream oil structures using sound waves.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
TBILISI, SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air passenger traffic from Tbilisi to Moscow grew by 92% in Jan.-Aug. 2015 compared to the same period last year, Georgia’s minister of economy Dmitri Kumsishvili said, highlighting the economic importance of the route.
Flights between Georgia and Russia were halted in 2006, due to diplomatic tension. Direct air connection timidly resumed in 2010 and was finally re-established in 2014. In 2008 Georgia and Russia fought a brief war.
“The number of passengers was particularly high from Tbilisi to Moscow,” media quoted Mr Kumsishvili as saying.
According to Mr Kumsishvili, the route will boost Georgia’s economy.
“Russian visitors spent over 750m lari ($3m) in Georgia over the past 8 months,” he said. The Tbilisi-Moscow route it currently serviced by three airlines. These are Georgian Airways, also called Airzena, Sibir, Aeroflot and Transaero.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-based GMEX-Group said it signed a deal to help build Tajikistan’s inaugural stock exchange. The Central Asia Stock Exchange (CASE), as it will be known, aims to launch trading of securities later this year and derivatives next year. GMEX supplies the technical know-how to produce pricing and trading data.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AzMeCo) signed a deal with Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom for the supply of 2b cubic metres of gas to its methanol production plant. Under the agreement, Gazprom will supply 100% of AzMeCo’s needs at the plant in Garadagh, a district just outside Baku.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Damu, a state-owned fund that helps SMEs in Kazakhstan, said it is negotiating on behalf of local businesses for a better interest rate on loans from the Asian Development Bank. The ADB has made $500m worth of loans available to SMEs in Kazakhstan since 2010. The Damu fund wants a $228m tranche made available to SMEs with an interest rate of 14% or below.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB), a popular lender in Kyrgyzstan, said it wants to issue debt worth 200m som ($2.9m), its largest ever issue. “The total amount of outstanding debt securities issued by the bank has reached 450m som, about 1% of the total volume of the bank’s liabilities,” Aliyev Bektur Kubanychbekovich, KICB deputy chairman, told local media.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan inaugurated a power plant in the Darvaza district, 250km north of Ashgabat, an indicator of how the country is setting itself up as a power exporter.
Turkish company Calyk Energy built the plant and US-based General Electric provided the four gas turbines for the 500MW power plant.
The official Turkmen media reported on Mr Berdymukhamedov’s visit to the opening of the plant.
It said: “The President stressed that Turkmenistan is constantly investing in electricity power generation, which will allow it to increase the exports to meet the demand of world markets.”
Turkmenistan is developing its electricity generation capacity. Power plants are being built in Turkmen- bashi, on the Caspian Sea coast, in the Lebap province, on the border with Uzbekistan, and in Mary, in the south-east of the country.
Turkmenistan is already exporting electricity to Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering a $65m loan to Astana LRT to buy 200 modern buses, media reported. Astana, the Kazakh capital, has been growing , putting major pressure on its public transport systems.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)