MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia plans to build a small windfarm between Tbilisi and Gori to the northwest, media reported. This is the first wind farm in the country and is part-funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan will start building a fourth gas pipeline to China at the end of this year, Interfax news agency quoted an official from the state energy company Uzbekneftegaz as saying. The pipeline is expected to be 260km long and cost around $800m.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
APRIL 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has banned sales of some pork products from Russia for health reasons, media reported, although some analysts said the real reason for the ban was worsening trade relations. Kazakh producers have complained of a flood of Russian goods. The devaluation of the Russian rouble has made Russian goods very cheap in Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has appointed the British subsidy of Fluor Corp., a US engineering company, to manage the $16.5b construction of a new oil, gas and petrochemical processing plant outside Baku, media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – LT Textile Cooperatief, a Dutch company, has started building a $55m cotton processing plant in the south of the country, media quoted a senior Uzbek official as saying. Human rights campaigners have accused Uzbekistan of using child labour to pick its cotton, making association with the industry problematic.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Looking for options to boost its energy supplies and reduce its reliance on Russia, Ukraine has said that it wants to restart importing gas from Turkmenistan.
At a meeting in Kiev, Turkmen foreign minister Rashid Meredov shook hands with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and smiled for the cameras. The two men appeared relaxed.
Media said that Mr Poroshenko had proposed re-starting gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Ukraine, stopped in 2006.
“Ukraine is ready and interested in resuming Turkmen gas imports as an alternative source,” Interfax quoted him as saying.
This will suit Turkmenistan’s agenda. It has been looking to increase its client base and has also hit an increasingly anti-Russia note in its public proclamations over the past few years. Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov blames the Kremlin for the recent regional economic downturn. Russia and Turkmenistan have also argued about gas supplies.
The problem with the plan is that to send gas to Ukraine, Turkmenistan will have to rely on pipelines in Kazakhstan and Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
BERLIN, MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – To celebrate Nauryz, a traditional festival to mark the start of spring, the Kazakh embassy in Berlin paid for a free concert at the city’s Philharmonic Theatre.
The performance was to be a celebration of Kazakh culture with two youth orchestras and several dancers flown in from Astana.
Culture, as well as politics and trade, have become an important part of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy, promoting its brand and pushing its image. Kazakhstan is bidding to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2022, it is hosting the international EXPO in 2017 and wants to win one of the rotating seats at the UN Security Council.
Free, or heavily subsidised performances in European capitals are one way of pushing its messages.
The Kazakh ambassador to Germany, Bolat Nussupov, opened the concert in Berlin, speaking briefly about Kazakhstan’s concept on interethnic harmony. Kazakhstan heralds this concept regularly and the symbolism was maintained during the concert with dances routines from various Kazakh ethnicities in traditional costumes.
The evening, and the Kazakh PR push, continued outside the hall with free traditional food, from plov to baursaki.
“It’s nice to have such events when we’re so far from home. I felt surrounded by my own people, my own heritage for a night,” said Aya, who moved to Berlin 16 years ago from Kazakhstan.
And as well as delighting Kazakh emigres in Germany, the performance seemed to have made an impact on Kazakhstan’s target audience — ordinary Germans.
“It’s good to learn about Kazakh folklore, the performance was remarkable, if slightly cheesy,” Daniel, a German designer said as he swallowed a mouthful of baursak, a popular Kazakh fried bread snack.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
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MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Harvey Nichols, one of London’s most famous department stores, has opened a branch in Baku, media reported. The 7-storey store underlines Azerbaijan’s draw for luxury brands and cements its place as one of the region’s top shopping destinations.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EU wants to revive a project to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Europe, Reuters reported quoting an EU diplomat based in Ashgabat. Since a civil war erupted in Ukraine last year, the EU has tried to work out how to dilute its reliance on Russia for gas supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan increased its export of electricity to Afghanistan by 58% in January and February, Tajik media reported quoting the national statistics agency. Electricity is seen as an important commodity produced by Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)