Tag Archives: business

High demand triggers Georgian airport expansion

JAN. 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In 2016, 1.8m people used Tbilisi international airport, media reported, more than double the people volume in 2010. The high usage has triggered an expansion scheme. A new arrival terminal will be able to process 3.25m people every year, officials said. The airport is operated by Turkey-based TAV Airports Holding. Georgia has invested millions into boosting tourist numbers, marketing itself as both a seaside destination with its resorts on the Black Sea coast and also as a winter sports hub. Iranians and Iraqis have also been travelling to Georgia to set up businesses.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Armenia wants Turkmen gas via Iran

JAN. 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan said he wanted to boost trilateral ties with Iran and Turkmenistan to potentially import Turkmen gas via Iran. Armenia has developed relations with Iran over the past few years. Iran and Turkmenistan are yet to respond to Mr Karapetyan’s proposal.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Turkmenistan looks to boost oil output

JAN. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan wants to attract foreign investors to help develop its North Goturdepe oil field in the Caspian Sea, media reported. The field was discovered in 2010 and has been developed by Turkmenistan. It currently produces around 68,000 barrels/day. It wants to double production.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Visitor numbers grow in Georgia

JAN. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Just over 6.3m people visited Georgia in 2016, the country’s statistics service said, an increase of 7.6% from 2015. The data doesn’t differentiate between tourists and business visitors. The largest number of visitors were from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Russia. EU citizens made 263,000 trips, up from 241,000. A 45 day visa-free regime for Iranians also boosted numbers to 148,000 visits up from 25,000 visits in 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Uzbekistan buys Dreamliners

JAN. 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan Airways has bought four more Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner aircrafts for an undisclosed amount to be delivered in 2019 and 2020, media reported. The Dreamliner is a long-haul aircraft that came into production 10 years ago. Uzbekistan has been trying to boost its airline and market itself as a stopover between the West and East Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

House prices fall in Kazakhstan

JAN. 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The price of new housing in Kazakhstan, considered a key economic indicator, was 3.6% lower in December 2016 than 12 months earlier, media reported quoting the economy ministry. This is still slower than the fall in older houses which analysts said was down by up to 15% in 2016. Kazakhstan’s economy has been hit by a collapse in oil prices and the fall in the value of the tenge.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Kapparova quits KazInvestBank

JAN. 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gahaur Kapparova, the widow of the former head of Kazatomprom, the Kazakh nuclear agency, has quit her 10% stake in KazInvestBank, less than two weeks after the Central Bank pulled its banking licence. According to data filed at the Kazakh Stock Exchange, the biggest shareholder in KazInvestBank is now Nurzhan Dzhanabekov, the bank’s CEO, with 15.3%. Ms Kapparova’s husband, Nurlan Kapparov, died from a heart attack during a business trip to China in 2015.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Fruit exports rise in Azerbaijan

JAN. 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s agricultural exports in the first 11 months of 2016 totalled $381m, a rise of 21.6% from 2015, the fruit-inform.com website reported. Most of the export increase was in fruit and vegetables. Azerbaijan is a major regional fruit and vegetable exporter although its value pales in comparison to oil and gas export volumes. Still, although the volume is small, it is also important. Azerbaijan’s government has said that it wants to diversify the country’s economy.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Uranium traders see better prices in 2017 after Kazatomprom signals move

JAN. 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been a rough sort of five years for the uranium traders and for the globe’s biggest producers.

At the top of this pile is Kazakhstan which has relentlessly pursued a market-grabbing agenda. It now controls over 40% of the world’s uranium production. Now, though, as reported on page 9, it appears to have signalled that it wants a higher price for its unprocessed uranium product, more often called yellowcake.

By holding back 3% of the world’s production, Kazakhstan’s pushed prices for uranium up by 10%.

And traders are cheering. Ever since a tsunami crashed into the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011, the market has been supply-side heavy. The tsunami wiped out a major buyer of yellowcake. Since then prices had dropped 75% before picking up slightly at the end of this year.

The problem for the industry is that stocks of yellowcake are so high that it will take Kazatomprom showing restraint for years to allow their production cuts to really take hold on the market.

Until then, uranium traders and producers are hoping, for demand to pick up and for this they are looking to incoming US president Donald Trump.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Kazakhstan’s Mangistaumunaigas to keep output steady

JAN. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mangistaumunaigas, the troubled state-owned oil producer near Zhanaozen in the west of Kazakhstan, will maintain its oil output at around 6.3m tonnes in 2017, media reported quoting CEO Bakyt Imanbaev. Mangistaumunaigas runs at a loss but the government has committed to keeping it open and maintaining jobs to avoid a repeat of the strikes in 2011 that triggered riots and the shooting dead of at least 15 protesters by police sent into quell the violence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)