DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Apparently unconcerned about potential nepotism allegations, Temir Zholy, Kazakhstan’s national railway company, appointed Nurali Aliyev, the 28-year-old grandson of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to be the CEO of TransTelecom, one of its subsidiaries. AO TransTelecom owns mobile communication infrastructure.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Bloomberg News in London, Kazakhstan’s Central Bank chief Kairat Kelimbetov said one of his main objectives was to cut the proportion of nonperforming loans in Kazakh banks to 10% by January 2016. Non-performing loans currently make up about 30% of its banks’ portfolio.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The second phase development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will cost $40b, the regional president for BP’s operations in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Gordon Birrell said. BP is the operator for Shah Deniz, considered to be the main driver of Azerbaijan’s future prospects.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Global Witness, the anti-corruption lobby group, published a report that alleged widespread use of offshore accounts and shell companies to move cash out of state-owned energy company SOCAR. Azerbaijan denied any wrongdoing.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan filed a $304m claim for environmental damage against Toronto-listed Centerra Gold’s operation at the Kumtor gold mine in the east of the country. The claim is probably designed to pile pressure on Centerra Gold to relinquish a larger stake in the Kumtor mine to the Kyrygz state.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged theft of oil by Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum, media reported. Tethys Petroleum, which operates across Central Asia, denied any wrongdoing. Complaining of pressure from the authorities, foreign investors have been leaving Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lukoil, the Russian energy company, plans to invest $5b in Uzbekistan over the next five years, making it the Central Asian state’s biggest single foreign investor, media reported. Lukoil is investing in three major gas producing projects in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — China agreed a deal that it hopes will deepen economic relations with Azerbaijan, media reported. The deal will mean that China gives nearly $5m to Azerbaijan to promote both bilateral cooperation and Chinese-made products. Over the last couple of years, China has been trying to boost its economic ties with the South Caucasus.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will halt all its oil exports via Russia in February, an official for the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR told Reuters. Azerbaijani-Russian relations have become increasingly strained and over the past few years Azerbaijan has shift most of its oil exports to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)
DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkey will take a larger stake in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) running from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe, said Rovnag Abdullayev, head of Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR. Statoil and Total will be offered smaller stakes to accommodate Turkey’s ambitions.
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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)