JUNE 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The price of potatoes in Kazakhstan has roughly doubled because of a shortage, media reported.This is important because food price spikes can generate discontent. Earlier this month, bread price increased in south Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The price of tickets on Tashkent’s bus, tram, trolleybus and metro systems increased by 20% on June 15 because of a rise in petrol prices, media reported. Petrol prices have been rising across Uzbekistan, frustrating locals. The Uzbek government sets petrol prices.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The number of migrants entering Russia for work has fallen by 20% this year because of strict new rules, Konstantin Romodanovsky, head of the Russian Federal Migration Service, said. This is important to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan whose economies rely most heavily on remittances from Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Dushanbe arrested 505 women for prostitution, AFP reported, a move that highlighted Tajikistan’s illegal sex industry. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported a 25% increase in women working as prostitutes this year. Most of these women, RFE/RL said, were driven to prostitution by poverty.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will waive corporation and land tax for 10 years for foreign investors outside its energy industry, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.The initiative is part of a drive to try and attract investors back to Kazakhstan. Rampant corruption and a flatlining economy have deterred some investors.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s reduced Kazakhstan’s outlook to negative from stable, hitting the country’s reputation as a target for foreign investment.
Slower economic growth estimates and the limited impact of monetary policy have dented Kazakhstan’s reputation and Standard & Poor’s said it could cut its BBB+ rating within the next two years. BBB+ is Standard & Poor’s third lowest investment grade rating.
Kazakhstan cut the value of its tenge currency in February by 20% and Standard & Poor’s said that if the Central Bank was forced to intervene again it would almost certainly cut the rating.
Since February sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine have hit the entire former Soviet region, cutting economic growth rates.
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(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)
JUNE 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bread prices in Shymkent increased by around a third overnight to 50 tenge ($0.25) a loaf from 35 tenge, media reported. This is the second bread price spike in south Kazakhstan this year and it could spark protests. Regional government officials blamed bakeries for the price increase.
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(News report from Issue No. 188, published on June 11 2014)
JUNE 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Foreign investment in Georgia jumped to $260m in the first quarter of 2014, a 15% increase from a year earlier, the statistics agency reported. Foreign investment is a vital part of Georgia’s economy. The government has tried to restore investor confidence after two destabilising elections.
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(News report from Issue No. 188, published on JUNE 11 2014)
JUNE 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament ratified a $100m loan from the Asian Development Bank that will be used to finance the construction of a road that will improve transport links between the north and the south of the country. The road, linking Talin and Lanjik, is considered an important part of the general infrastructure upgrade.
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(News report from Issue No. 188, published on June 11 2014)
JUNE 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan is not known as a trading powerhouse, its main export is migrant labour to Russia, but a recent low-level diplomatic meeting in Dushanbe once again highlights the importance of its aluminium smelter.
Tajikistan’s deputy transport minister, Sherali Gandjalov and Georgia’s ambassador in the country, Konstantin Zhgenti met to discuss securing trade routes for aluminium exports from TALCO through the South Caucasus trade corridor, Asia-Plus reported.
Mr Gandjalov and Mr Zhgenti specifically discussed the Georgian port of Poti on the Black Sea coast. Poti is a major transit point for raw materials needed for Tajik aluminium production as well as an export route for finished aluminium products heading to European markets.
But all is not well at TALCO, the state aluminium- smelter. It is saddled with debts and last year laid off 20% of its staff as global aluminium prices bottomed out.
These former TALCO staff will most likely be adding to Tajikistan’s most economically successful export — migrant workers to Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 188, published on JUNE 11 2014)