Tag Archives: business

Georgia’s TBC Bank launches consumer finance products in Uzbekistan

DEC. 20 2019 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s TBC Bank has launched a consumer finance services trial in Uzbekistan, media reported, part of its drive to expand its international operations. Earlier this year, TBC Bank bought the Payme Uzbekistan-based digital payment service. It said that its consumer finance products are currently limited to electronic and furniture items at their ‘point-of-sale’.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Landslip kills six workers in Tashkent

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DEC. 19 2019 (The Bulletin) — A landslip killed six labourers working on the construction of a metro extension in Tashkent. The fast pace of development in the region has pushed up fatalities on construction sites this year. Safety standards in both Central Asia and the South Caucasus are considered lax.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Kazakh uranium production rises by 5%

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DEC. 19 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan, the world’s biggest uranium miner, said that it had increased its uranium production by 5% this year. Previously Kazakhstan said that it would aim to limit its uranium production in an effort to give stagnant prices a boost.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Unesco recognises Kyrgyzstan’s kalpak as heritage item

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DEC. 17 2019 (The Bulletin) — The tall white and black kalpak hat worn by Kyrgyz elders has been given Unesco heritage status. An AFP reporter in Bishkek reported that the government hopes the Unesco recognition of the kalpak will help boost tourism to Kyrgyzstan.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Georgia gives Anaklia partners more time to name financers

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DEC. 17 2019 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government extended to Dec. 31 a deadline for the partners developing the Anaklia port on the Black Sea to submit new loan agreements after they missed a Dec. 16 deadline. The Anaklia was supposed to be the biggest infrastructure project built in Georgia, opening it up to more East-West cargo traffic, but instead each side has accused the other of undermining progress. The partners are TBC Holding, the US’ SSA Marine, Britain’s Wondernet Express and Bulgaria’s G-Star.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Hungary’s Wizz Air to start flying from Armenia

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YEREVAN/DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) –Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it was setting up new routes to Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport from Vilnius and Vienna, going head-to-head with Ryanair which will also start flying to the Armenian capital next year.

Wizz Air was the first European budget airline to expand into the South Caucasus when it set up operations out of Georgia’s second city of Kutaisi in 2016. Since then its routes to Kutaisi have spanned out across Europe. Georgian politicians hold up Wizz Air as a foreign investment success story that has created jobs and helped the tourism sector.

Announcing its new routes on Twitter, Wizz Air said: “This magical country has brought us more than just one of America’s most famous reality families. From the world’s oldest winery to a record-breaking cable car to chess masters, it’s time to uncover the true hospitality this country has to offer.”

Reuters quoted Wizz Air as saying that it expected the two twice-weekly routes to start up in April 2020.

For Armenian aviation officials, the start of Wizz Air flights from Zvartnots represents another success after they persuaded Ryanair to start flying from Armenia. Footfall at Armenian airports rose 9% this year.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Kyrgyzstan bans uranium mining

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DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov signed into law a decree that bans uranium mining. Earlier this year protests against uranium mining started up in Bishkek. Uranium waste heaps, a legacy of Soviet mining, scar parts of the Kyrgyz countryside.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Petrofac and Socar JV win BP deal in Azerbaijan

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DEC. 16 2019 (The Bulletin) — Jersey-registered oil and gas services company Petrofac said that it had won a contract, alongside its joint-venture partner, the Azerbaijani state oil and gas company SOCAR, to work with BP at its Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field, in the Caspian Sea, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Petrofac did not put a value on the deal but did say that it would run for three years.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

China increases business influence in Uzbekistan

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DEC. 15 2019 (The Bulletin) — Highlighting the increased reach of Chinese companies in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek State Statistics Committee said that there were 1,611 Chinese companies registered in the country as of Dec. 1. Only Russia, the Statistics Committee said, had more companies operating in Uzbekistan. It also said that last year Uzbekistan-China bilateral trade increased by 48.4% to $6.26b.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Kazakhstan to start assembling helicopters from Russia

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DEC. 15 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan Engineering will begin assembling 17 Russian Mi-171 transport helicopters next year, the Kazakh government said in a statement. All 17 helicopters will be manufactured in Russia and will be bought by either Kazakhstan’s National Guard or its Emergencies Ministry. Kazakhstan Engineering described the deal as a “significant step in the development of Kazakhstan’s helicopter industry”.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019