JAN. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s government ordered the country’s largest industries to cut production costs by 10%, media reported quoting an official document. The order is a reflection of the bloated nature of Uzbekistan’s industrial base and also of the poor health of the Uzbek economy. It may also herald potential job cuts in 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Bank and Azerbaijan signed a $42m deal for waste management projects, media reported. Analysts have said a plan is needed to deal with a projected doubling of waste expected in Azerbaijan over the next 20 years generated by a combination of income and population growth.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In 2013 the port of Aktau, on Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea coast, handled 8% less trade compared to 2012.
This is significant because Aktau is one of the biggest trading posts into and out of Kazakhstan. Unsurprisingly oil and oil-based products form 60% of Aktau Port’s trade volumes. Last year oil shipments through Aktau dropped by 20%, a significant drop and one that needs to be analysed.
The drop is probably down to a shift in the direction that oil has been travelling. Previously, Kazakhstan had sent most of its oil West across the Caspian Sea to Europe via Azerbaijan or north through Russia’s pipeline network. This has changed significantly over the past few years and Kazakh oil is now flowing east to China.
The drop in trade at Aktau is important as it is probably a byproduct of increased Chinese demand for Kazakh energy.
Of course, as Kazakhstan’s economy grows, so should all trade volumes at Aktau — especially, and importantly, non-oil trade volumes.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting improved relations between Georgia and Russia, Airzena Georgian Airways will resume flights to Sochi in time for the start of the Winter Olympic Games next month. Georgian Airways plans to fly twice a week from Tbilisi to the resort town on the Black Sea coast.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan invited international companies to compete in a tender to build a railway track from Bereket in the west of the country to Etrek on the border with Iran, media reported. The railway will form part of an ambitious project to link Central Asia up with the Persian Gulf.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The consortium of companies developing the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea said it was working on restarting production but declined to give a date. A gas leak shut down production at Kashagan, Kazakhstan’s most high-profile energy project, in October around a month after the project officially opened.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek government increased the price of petrol by 20% because of continued shortages. Uzbeks are already labouring under a series of price rises, from food to general utilities. The jump in petrol prices could cause resentment to grow.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting China’s increased interest in business in the south Caucasus, executives from the Nakhchivan Automobile Plant in south Azerbaijan flew to Chongqing for talks on expanding its cooperation with Lifan, a Chinese car brand. Nakhchivan Automobile Plant plans to produce 2,500 to 3,000 Lifan cars this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s financial authorities have shut Samarkand Bank for undisclosed violations, media reported, the second bank it has closed in the last two months.
After the authorities withdrew its trading license, Samarkand Bank, just like Credit Standard Bank before it, transferred its assets to the state-owned People’s Bank of Uzbekistan.
There is, typically, a political reason, for this sort of targeted action in Uzbekistan and in the case of Samarkand Bank, the clue is, possibly, in the name.
Shortly after the Uzbek authorities cut the license of Credit Standard Bank in November 2013, allegations appeared on Uzbek websites linking it to Gulnara Karimova, the embattled eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. She is currently locked in a power battle with rival clans and analysts said the closure of Credit Standard Bank may have been an attempt to undermine her.
The Karimovs are part of the Samarkand clan, named after Uzbekistan’s second city. Samarkand Bank’s name and origins suggest a link between the bank and the clan. Disbanding it will play into the hands of the so-called Tashkent clan, headed by various members of Uzbekistan’s intelligence service.
Once again, politics may well be the root cause of another banking closure in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)
JAN. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will increase the amount of oil it sends to refineries in western China for processing into oil-based products, media reported quoting the Kazakh energy ministry. Kazakhstan has three refineries, not enough to meet the growing demand for oil-based products. Sending oil to Chinese refineries increases Kazakhstan’s reliance on China.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)