Tag Archives: business

Kazakh Kommertsbank director resigns

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Nurzhan Subkhanberdin resigned as director of Kazkommertsbank after selling a 7.2% stake in the bank, one of the largest in Kazakhstan, to Kenes Rakishev, the son-in-law of the Kazakh defence minister.

Although Mr Subkhanberdin still owns 37.8% of Kazkommertsbank his ousting from the board effectively completes the takeover of Kazkommertsbank by businessmen
loyal to President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Earlier this year Mr Subkhanberdin was replaced as chairman of Kazkommertsbank, a position he had held since setting it up in 1991.

The London-based Mr Subkhanberdin was viewed with suspicion. He had openly sup- ported opponents of Mr Nazarbayev in the early 2000s.

Last year, Kazkommertsbank had been cajoled into a merger with BTA Bank, which the government rescued from bankruptcy in 2009. The merger imposed BTA Bank’s large portfolio of bad loans onto Kazkommertsbank, hitting its profits. In 2014, Kazkommertsbank said on April 30, profit dropped by 55%.

The deal is another major boon for Mr Rakishev too. He now owns 23.34% of the bank.

Mr Rakishev, 35, is closely linked to the Kazakh elite. Analysts have said the Kazakh elite use Mr Rakishev to buy companies and to hold shares in businesses.

He is married to the daughter of the minister of defence Imangali Tasmagambetov, one of President Nazarbayev’s closest associates.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Armenia and US to sign trade deal

MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Washington next week, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan will sign a trade deal with the US, media reported quoting US government sources. Although Armenia is an ally of Russia it is also improving ties with the West.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Another Marriott hotel to open in Georgia

APRIL 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Marriott International hotel group announced plans to open its third site in Tbilisi, media reported. The 130-room Moxy Tbilisi Hotel is part of the Marriott’s push to open its lifestyle brand across Eastern Europe. Hotel brands are pouring into Tbilisi.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Tajikistan signs CASA-1000 deal

APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a ceremony in Istanbul, Tajik, Pakistani and Afghan officials signed a deal that will mean electricity generated in Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains will power households in Islamabad.

The CASA-1000 project should generate income for Dushanbe from its hydro-stations and for Kabul as a transit country while plugging a shortfall in electricity in Pakistan.

As well as an economic success, the $1.2b project is seen as a diplomatic highlight by the United States which is keen to involve Central Asian countries in trade deals with Pakistan and Afghanistan. It sees this as a way to foster stability once it withdraws its forces.

Richard Hoagland, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia, said: “We’ve already seen the efficacy of such an approach in the successes of the CASA-1000 energy project, which brought together a grouping of countries that had never before worked together on a development project.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Azerbaijan’s IBA pulls in $200m loan

APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Azerbaijani state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan raised a $200m loan from 18 financial institutions. This is important because it means Western banks are willing to lend to Azerbaijani state-owned institutions despite the economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Kyrgyz PM resigns after failure to end gold row

APRIL 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Djoomart Otorbayev resigned as Kyrgyzstan’s PM after barely a year in office.

The 59-year-old former international economist was the fourth Kyrgyz PM to resign since constitutional reform shifted power from the president to parliament in 2010.

Earlier this month the Kyrgyz government appeared to change tack significantly and argue for a great number of directors on the Centerra Gold board rather than the creation of a new company, with a 50:50 ownership, to run Kumtor.

His resignation was linked to the failure to secure a permanent solution to the ongoing row with Canada’s Centerra Gold over ownership of the Kumtor gold mine in east Kyrgyzstan — the country’s single biggest industrial asset.

“I think my decision to resign will allow the majority coalition to choose a more decisive prime minister,” Kyrgyz media quoted Mr Otorbayev as saying.

Kyrgyzstan owns 32.7% of Centerra Gold, which is listed in Toronto, and has been looking to boost its influence over the mine.

Importantly, Mr Otorbayev’s resignation highlights the unstable nature of Kyrgyz politics and also the dominance of the Kumtor ownership issue.

The three-party majority coalition now has 15 days to nominate a new PM for parliament.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Armenia to get cheaper gas

APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has agreed to lower the price of gas it sells to consumers in Armenia by 13%, media reported quoting Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller. Gazprom owns the gas pipelines in Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Georgia wooing airlines

APRIL 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia has been negotiating with several low-cost airlines — including Ryanair, EasyJet and Air Berlin — to fly to Tbilisi, media reported quoting deputy economy minister Ketevan Bochorishvili. Tourism is a major source of income for Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Uzbekistan car sales to remain low

APRIL 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has made plans to deal with a sustained slump in demand from Russia for its cars, media reported quoting an Uzbek government source.

It said that sales would remain relatively low for its cars until 2019.

This is important because demand from Russia is the main driver of Uzbek car production. This is centred on the GM Uzbekistan plant in Andijan, east Uzbekistan.

GM Uzbekistan, which is 25% owned by US carmaker GM and 75% owned by the Uzbek government, recorded a 38% slump in car sales to Russia in 2014. It also recorded a slump of around 60% in the first quarter of the year, according to reports.

News agencies said sales to Russia between January and March were 5,411 cars from GM Uzbekistan compared to 12,858 in 2014.

Like other countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Uzbekistan is strug- gling to cope with the severe economic collapse over the past few months, triggered by a collapse in oil prices and sanctions on Russia. The Russian economy is a vital engine for the wider regional economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 229, published on April 29 2015)

Kazakhstan extends ban on Russian oil products

APRIL 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan extended a ban on the import of Russian oil products by an extra month until May 20. An original 45-day ban had been due to end on April 20. Kazakhstan imposed the ban because an imbalance in the Russian rouble-Kazakh tenge exchange rate has triggered an influx of cheap Russian oil products.

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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)