MARCH 3 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-listed Oxus Gold said it doubted auditors would give a fair valuation to the 50% share of a gold mine it had agreed to sell to the Uzbek government. Oxus said it was prepared to trigger a legal battle with the Uzbek government over the value of the stake. Its shares fell 50%.
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(News report from Issue No. 30, published on March 7 2011)
FEB. 22 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a three-day trip to Beijing, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed a series of deals with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The deals included Chinese funds for a new Astana-Almaty high speed rail link, a uranium supply deal and various oil and gas projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 21 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik state electricity supplier said it would end winter electricity rationing about a month earlier than last year because of the slightly warmer, more rainy weather. Hydropower stations generate most of Tajikistan’s electricity. With Iranian cash, Tajikistan is building another large dam which it plans to open this year and should ensure energy supplies throughout the winter.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iraq’s oil ministry delayed the signing of a deal with Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigas and South Korea’s KOGAS to develop the Akkas gas field in western Iraq. Reuters quoted the Iraqi oil minister saying that hesitation by provincial officials had delayed the deal.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Despite the rather turgid official photos, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev left observers in no doubt how important they viewed relations between China and Kazakhstan when they met in Beijing on Feb. 22.
According to Xinhua, China’s state news agency, Mr Hu told Mr Nazarbayev that his trip to Beijing was the first by a head of state since the Chinese New Year on Feb. 3.
Mr Nazarbayev went one better. He told Mr Hu this was his first overseas trip of 2011.
Away from the platitudes, the deals the two leaders struck underlined how quickly the Sino-Kazakh economic relationship had developed. Mr Nazarbayev returned from Beijing with investment from China worth billions of dollars for a wide range of projects.
Perhaps the most important was for uranium sales. Kazakhstan is one of the world’s biggest uranium producers while China is energy hungry and has said it wants to boost its nuclear energy capacity. According to media reports Kazakhstan pledged to feed China with 40% of its uranium needs over the next few years.
Also agreed was a $1.7b loan from China to Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, Chinese investment for a 1,050km high-speed rail link between Astana and Almaty and a $1b plan to modernise the oil refinery in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea — one of three in Kazakhstan.
According to Mr Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s bilateral trade with China reached $20b in 2010, up 45% from 2009.
It looks set to continue to rise.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and Iran agreed to build an oil pipeline running 365km from Tabriz to Eraskh, media quoted the Armenian energy minister, Armen Movsisyan, as saying. The $100m pipeline will open in 2013. Mr Movsisyan said it was important to diversify Armenia’s energy supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 28, published on Feb. 21 2011)
FEB. 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The price of wheat has jumped by 54% in Kyrgyzstan and 37% in Tajikistan since June 2010, the World Bank said. The Kyrgyzstan price rise is the largest in the world. Wheat makes up around 50% of people’s diets in both countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 28, published on Feb. 21 2011)
FEB. 8/10 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Japanese and Uzbek state-run metals companies pledged to jointly explore uranium deposits in Uzbekistan during an official visit by Uzbek President Islam Karimov to Tokyo. Mr Karimov and Japanese Pm Naoto Kan also said they wanted to strengthen bilateral relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 27, published on Feb. 14 2011)
FEB. 9 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United States signed a fuel supply deal for its Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan which will split the lucrative contract 50:50 between a state company and the Gibraltar-registered Mina Corp. The company had been the sole supplier under the previous government, a deal criticised for its lack of transparency.
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(News report from Issue No. 27, published on Feb. 14 2011)
FEB. 12 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran will spend $500m building a cement plant in Tajikistan, its ambassador in Dushanbe told media (Feb. 9). Later Tajik foreign minister Hamrokhon Zarifi praised the growing cooperation between the two countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 27, published on Feb. 14 2011)