Tag Archives: Coronavirus

Kazakhstan reports 109 cases of the coronavirus

MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has reported 109 cases of the coronavirus, mainly concentrated in Nur-Sultan and Almaty. One person, a 64yo woman has died. Earlier, the government had placed both cities under a lockdown, hoping to contain the disease but within a week it was clear that this policy was not going to work as officials in the regions started reporting cases.

Two coronavirus cases have been reported in Karaganda, two in Shymkent and a single case each in Aktobe, Almaty region, Zhambyl region and North Kazakhstan. Officials said that the disease has been imported by people returning to Kazakhstan from Europe and Russia.

Both former president Nursultan Nazarbayev and his successor, Pres. Kassym Jomart Tokayev have given TV broadcasts calling for calm.

So far only Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent have been placed under a lockdown which forces people to remain in their houses.

The authorities have also said that they will extend various visas to foreigners in Kazakhstan. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan has closed its borders and its schools.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Azerbaijan reports 81 cases of the coronavirus

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MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — The authorities in Azerbaijan have reported 81 cases of the coronavirus, including two deaths. The Formula 1 Grand Prix, scheduled for June and the highlight of the sporting calendar in Azerbaijan, has also been cancelled. Baku was also meant to be hosting matches for the UEFA European Football Championship this summer. It has also been postponed by a year.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Armenia reports 290 cases of the coronavirus

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MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — Armenia has been the worst hit in the Central Asia and South Caucasus region with 290 confirmed cases. PM Nikol Pashinyan has ordered tough new measures to try to slow the spread of the virus, including movement restrictions. Officials said that the epicentre of the virus was a sewing factory in Yerevan.

Armenians have been told to stay inside. Cafes, restaurants and businesses have been closed.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

New law in Kazakhstan will restrict protest rights, says HRW

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MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament passed the first vote of a new law that human rights activists said would restrict people’s rights to protest (March 26). “The bill still gives the authorities power to approve or reject requests to hold events depending on their form,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “Government officials can propose alternative locations, times, and dates. If the organisers do not consent to the change, the event will be cancelled.” HRW also said, though, that parliament had voted against increased restrictions against journalists covering public meetings and protests.

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— This story was first published in issue 441 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Coronavirus spreads through Central Asia and South Caucasus

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YEREVAN/March 26 (The Bulletin) — The Covid-19 virus started to take a grip of the Central Asia and South Caucasus region with only Tajikistan and Turkmenistan not reporting any outbreaks.

Worst hit, by some margin, has been Armenia with 290 cases reported by March 26. Officials said that the source of the outbreak was a sewing factory in Yerevan and people arriving from Iran, which has had one of the worst outbreaks in the world.

From sounding blase about the impact of the coronavirus only two weeks ago, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan has now ordered a lockdown along the same lines as European countries, which is hitting businesses.

“Let’s look at the upcoming week as a unique opportunity to read, self-reflect and plan the future of the Armenian nation,” he said.

Neighbouring Georgia and Azerbaijan have also reported cases of the coronavirus, 77 cases and 80 cases each, but have taken different approaches to dealing with it. The Georgian government has imposed a lockdown in Tbilisi but in Azerbaijan the rules are more relaxed.

In Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have imposed lockdowns over their largest cities to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, although Turkmen and Tajik officials have insisted, much to the amazement of many analysts, that they haven’t had any cases.

On March 21, Tajik towns hosted the traditional celebrations to mark the Persian new year Nowruz festival and Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has talked up the medicinal benefits of various herbs against the coronavirus.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

MARKETS: Coronavirus crashes currencies

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MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — Currencies across the region crashed to their lowest levels as the full extent of the threat of the coronavirus to the world’s economic system became apparent, the US dollar strengthened and governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus began to fret whether they would be able to deal with a major health crisis.

The Kazakh tenge was trading down 13% at 447.8/$1, off a low of 456/$1. It follows the price of oil and the Russian rouble closely and with both bouncing around at lows, the tenge was always going to get dragged down. It has never been this low and before the oil price collapse of 2014 was valued at around 188/$1.

The Georgian lari fell by more than 15% to 3.3387/$1, also an all-time low. The currency has been weak for more than a year but policymakers had thought it was beginning to strengthen before the impact of the coronavirus turned it onto a downward trajectory.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Coronavirus smashes in the region’s currencies

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TBILISI/March 26 (The Bulletin) — Currencies plunged across Central Asia and the South Caucasus because of the combined impact of the Covid-19 virus, a collapse in oil prices and a surge in the value of the US dollar.

Central Banks raced to pump money into their systems and sell off foreign currency assets to prop up the value of their currencies as the impact of the pandemic on business and economies across the globe became apparent.

In the past couple of weeks the region’s two most-traded currencies, the Kazakh tenge and the Georgian lari, have lost around 20% of their value.

Airlines have stopped flying into the region, land borders have closed and projects and foreign direct investment that had been pledged have been put on hold.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kyrgyzstan bans export of foodstuffs

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MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — In Kyrgyzstan, the government on March 23 also banned the export of most foodstuffs. Three of the countries main cities — Bishkek, Osh and Jala-Abad — are in lockdown to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Like much of the rest of the region, Kyrgyzstan has closed down air links, in and out of the country, to deal with the coronavirus.

The Kyrgyz government has not laid out any financial aid of its own for businesses to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus but it has made an official request to the IMF for help.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Tajikistan says that it has no cases of the coronavirus

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MARCH 26 (The Bulletin) — Tajikistan is one of only a handful of countries in the world, Turkmenistan being another, that has not reported any cases of the coronavirus. It has not imposed any social-distancing rules and has not placed any of its cities under a lockdown. Instead, towns across the country celebrated the traditional Persian New Year festival of Nowruz as usual.

The health authorities, though, have been imposing a two-week quarantine scheme on people arriving back into the country. They have said that they are running out of beds and places to put people into.

Reports from Moscow said that hundreds of migrant workers were trapped at airports after the cancellation of dozens of flights.

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Coronavirus forces Georgia’s tourist industry to close

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TBILISI/March 26 (The Bulletin) — The spread of the coronavirus has forced Georgia’s tourism industry, a source of pride and economic strength over the past half a decade, to shut down. Businesses linked to the sector said that it may take years to rebuild.

Irakli Areshidze, a bar owner in Tbilisi, told a correspondent for The Bulletin that he had had to leave debts unpaid and abandon his business for now.

“It’s a very difficult situation,” he said. “We had to pay for the February expenses with the March income, but the March income was so low we needed to use the savings.”

The Georgian tourism sector has been marketed heavily in Europe and the Middle East. For Arabs it is an escape from the heat, for Europeans it is an exotic bridge towards the former Soviet Union.

Lika Jguburia has been working as a guide. He said that all the tour reservations until October have been cancelled.

“To lose a job and a major source of income is simply awful,” he said. “And it has happened so quickly.”

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— This story was first published in issue 440 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin