Tag Archives: business

Explosion kills three Kazakh coal miners

ALMATY, AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — — A methane gas leak triggered an explosion at a mine in central Kazakhstan, killing three coal miners in the worst Kazakh mining accident since 2008 when 30 people died in a blast.

The Kazakhstanstkaya mine is located near the city of Karaganda and is reportedly owned by the steel works at nearby Timirtau. The steel factory is owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.

The reputation of ArcelorMittal’s factory has fallen over the last few years as it cut jobs. This was partly linked to a global economic downturn and partly a result of international sanctions on Iran, a core client.

The factory now employs around 12,000 workers, down from 15,000 only a few years ago. It had also tried to cut staff salaries, although this effort was rebuked.

Kazakhstan has a patchy record for coal mining safety. As well as the 2008 accident, a monorail accident last year also killed three miners at another coal mine owned by ArcelorMittal. In 2006, 41 miners in Kazakhstan died in a methane blast.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Starbuks opening in Ashgabat is fake news

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AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hundreds of people were taken in by images that appeared to show that Starbucks, the US coffee shop chain, had opened up its first store in Turkmenistan (Aug. 25).
Various pictures showed young Turkmen drinking coffee at what looked like a Starbucks coffee shop in Ashgabat.
The fake news appears to have been spread initially by a little-known website called http://www.atavatan-turkmenistan.com.
The original post said that Starbucks had opened in a shopping mall ahead of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games which opens later this month.
Starbucks has only just opened its first stores in Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s economic powerhouse, and has not announced any plans to open in Turkmenistan or anywhere else across the region.
Neither the Turkmen government nor Starbucks have commented on the fake news.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017

Nazarbayev opens nuclear fuel bank

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ALMATY, AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the first nuclear fuel bank owned and managed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The low-enriched uranium fuel bank based at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen will be the first independently-managed supply of fuel for nuclear power stations. It will take a year to stock the plant with low-enriched uranium.

For Mr Nazarbayev the opening of the IAEA’s nuclear fuel bank has important inferences, including cementing Kazakhstan’s self-made image as a centre for peaceful nuclear energy.

At the opening ceremony in Astana, Mr Nazarbayev said that the nuclear fuel bank should reduce the risk of nuclear war.

“We are the largest producer of uranium and are ready to play an important role in the world energy,” he was quoted by a government press release as saying.

Over the past 25 years, Mr Nazarbayev has carefully crafted an image for himself as a pioneer of nuclear safety. He voluntarily surrendered an arsenal of nuclear weapons, left over by the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991, and has pushed Kazakhstan to become the biggest producer of raw uranium in the world. It now has a market share of around 40%.

Some have even suggested that Mr Nazarbayev views the nuclear route as a way of securing a Nobel Peace Prize.

The low-enriched uranium nuclear fuel bank is seen as a resource of last resort for countries that need to secure supplies for nuclear power stations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Fire destroys chemical factory in Armenia

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AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — An explosion at a chemical manufacturing plant in Nairit, Armenia, ignited a fire that raged for at least two days. The chemicals plant has been on the verge of bankruptcy for several years, with management sacking two-thirds of the staff en mass in 2015. The plant is currently owned by Samvel Karapetyan, one of Armenia’s richest men, through his company Electric Networks of Armenia. It is unclear if anybody was hurt in the explosion and what caused it.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Workers fight at Astana tower

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SEPT. 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh riot police intervened in a fight between foreign workers, identified as Indian by Twitter users, and security guards at the Abu Dhabi Plaza construction site in Astana. It is the second major incident at the site, set to be the tallest building in Central Asia, after a fire earlier this year. The fight also shows the tension between foreign workers brought into Kazakhstan to build major infrastructure projects and locals. Kazakhstan has become something of a magnet for migrant workers in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

EBRD extends financing in Armenia

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SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Armenia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it was extending its scheme aimed at boosting lending to women and small and medium-sized businesses. It will lend Araratbank, one of the larger banks in the country, the equivalent of $10m in local dram currency, media reported.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Azerbaijan wants to increase wine sales to China

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AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan wants to further increase its exports of wine to China over the next few years, Chinese media reported by quoting Azerbaijani officials. China is seen by both Azerbaijan and Georgia as a key growth market. Both governments and their exports agencies have been ploughing money into marketing their wine in China. Earlier this year, Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev extolled Azerbaijani wine producers to boost sales.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Papa John’s says to open in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

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ALMATY, AUG. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — US pizza chain Papa John’s said it would expand its franchise stores into Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, building on what it said was a successful venture into Russia and Belarus (Aug. 24). Papa John said that it planned to open its first restaurant in Almaty by the end of the year and that it would open 15 more by 2022. In Bishkek, it said it planned to open six restaurants.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Chocolate maker Ferrero Rocher eyes up Azerbaijani hazelnuts

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AUG. 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Italian confection-maker Ferrero Rocher started talks with the Azerbaijani government on sourcing hazelnuts for is chocolates.

News reports said senior Ferrero Rocher executives had traveled to Baku for meetings.

Azerbaijan has previously said it wants to increase its hazelnut production. It produces around 4% of the world’s total hazelnut production. Turkey is the biggest producer of hazelnuts.

Ferrero Rocher is well-known for its gold packaging and 1980s TV adverts which linked the chocolate to lavish, and glamorous, diplomatic parties, featuring the catchphrase: “Ferrero Rocher. A sign of good taste”.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Kazakhstan’s KAZ Minerals raises expectations

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AUG. 17 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakh miner KAZ Minerals said it was targeting production of 300,000 tonnes of copper in 2018 after a significant boost to output and copper prices in the first half of the year. KAZ Minerals is an open-pit mine and its operations are focused on Kazakhstan. It doubled production in the first half of the year from the same period in 2016.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)