SEPT. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Kyrgyzstan quoted reports from north Turkmenistan which said long queues were forming at petrol stations after rumours emerged that prices were going to rise. Petrol prices have risen across Central Asia because of a sharp fall in the value of local currencies.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Chinese Zijin Mining Group Company pledged more investment into Tajikistan’s gold mines, local media reported. Zijin owns a 75% stake in a joint venture with the Tajik government in the development of the Zarafshan gold mine, the largest gold mine in Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 100 protesters scuffled with police in Yerevan over electricity price rises for businesses. Activists said they believe President Serzh Sargsyan has reneged on his promise to protesters in June to subsidise planned electricity price rises by omitting businesses from the deal.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s health department blocked the transit of 40 tonnes of dairy products from Latvia and Germany from travelling across its territory to Uzbekistan. Reports said the shipment had broken transit rules. European producers have dodged sanctions on Russia by sending products to Uzbekistan which they then send onto Moscow.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s parliament voted to overrule a veto by President Giorgi Margvelashvili that would have blocked the adoption of a controversial bill that stripped the Central Bank of its supervisory powers over the commercial banking sector. International organisations have criticised the bill as politically-motivated. The Central Bank has argued with the government over economic policy.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Bishkek, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev the Russian gas monopoly wanted 60% of the country to have access to gas.
Gazprom bought the Kyrgyz gas network in 2013 but this is its first major plan for Kyrgyzstan’s pipeline system. Mr Miller said the plan would cost $700m and mean building 2,500km of new gas pipes.
“We are working ahead of our schedule with the government to get Kyrgyzstan ready for the winter,” Mr Miller said at the press conference. He also noted that construction work on the final section of the Tashkent Bishkek-Almaty gas pipeline had started.
The Tashkent–Bishkek-Almaty gas pipeline is touted as a key component of Central Asia’s energy nexus as it will double capacity being sent from Uzbekistan to populated areas in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
AUG. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $20m loan to boost coastal defences along the Black Sea. The loan will be used to strengthen 5km of shore south of Batumi. The ADB said it was important to defend the shoreline to protect farmland and housing as well as the region’s beaches which attract thousands of tourists each year.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Eurasian Resources Group, owner of Kazakhstan’s miner ENRC, signed a financing agreement with the China Development Bank for $2b in Kazakhstan, the FT reported. The Kazakh government and a group of businessmen own the Eurasian Resources Group. Marred with corruption allegations, the management of ENRC de-listed from the London Stock Exchange in 2013. The company now works with China on aluminium, iron ore and power projects in Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
AUG. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Qazaq Air, the new state-owned domestic Kazakh airline, flew its maiden flight from Almaty and to Astana on the night of Aug. 27, media reported. Qazaq Air is a fully-owned subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)
SEPT. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gas flows along the Baku-Tbilisi-Er- zurum pipeline have resumed after a second attack by Kurdish rebels, the head of BP-Azerbaijan’s press service Tamam Bayatli told Azerbaijani media.
Kurdish rebels have twice attacked a section of the pipeline in Turkey over the past month. On each occasion, BP said gas flows had barely been impacted as the pipeline had either been empty or running at reduced capacity for maintenance.
The PKK group has claimed responsibility for the two attacks and said that it will mount more despite a pledged by the Turkish security forces to strengthen security.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline, sometimes referred to as the South Caucasus pipeline, is an important part of the network pumping gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe. Its main feeder is Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz project which is being enlarged to produce more gas for Europe.
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(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)