Tag Archives: economy

Kazakhstan wants to raise $500m on Russian bond market

FEB. 26 2020 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan plans to raise $500m on the Russian bond market over the next few months, Reuters reported by quoting Kazakh finance minister Alikhan Smailov. This is the first time that Kazakhstan has gone to the Russian debt market rather than the Western debt market to raise funds. Mr Smailov said that the Russian market was less of a foreign currency risk because the tenge and the rouble tend to move together and that debt was also cheaper when compared to the West.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Erdogan and Aliyev sign agreement for ‘preferential trade agreement’

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FEB. 25 2020 (The Bulletin) — On a visit to Baku, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a deal with Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev that promotes a “preferential trade agreement” between the two allies. Media reported that in 2019, Turkey’s exports to Azerbaijan were $1.6b and its imports were $400m.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kyrgyzstan raises interest rates to beat inflation

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FEB. 24 2020 (The Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank raised its key interest rate by 75 basis points to 5% because of creeping inflationary pressures. This is its highest rate since mid-2018 when the Central Bank started cutting its interest rate. It said in a statement that it had raised its inflation prediction for 2020 to 5% from an earlier estimate of 4.6%. Food price rises are driving inflation, it said.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Proctor & Gamble says it is considering building a plant in Uzbekistan

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TASHKENT/Jan. 7 2020 (The Bulletin) — Proctor & Gamble, one of the world’s largest producer of consumer goods, is considering setting up a production site in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek government said.

According to Uzbekistan’s ministry of investment and foreign trade, regional executives from Proctor & Gamble flew to Tashkent for a meeting with ministers.

“Procter & Gamble is currently studying the industrial potential of Uzbekistan and considering the prospects of creating high-tech production facilities in the country,” media reports said of the meeting on Dec. 24. “In the operations in the country, the company will follow American standards of quality and environmental friendliness.”

If Proctor & Gamble did set up a production facility in Uzbekistan it would be a major coup for the Uzbek government which has been trying to woo foreign investment and to present itself as the premier business location in Central Asia.

The company, which is based in Cincinnati and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is best known for its brands such as washing up powders Ariel and Tide, shampoo brand Head & Shoulders and shaving products sold as Gillette. It has not commented on the Uzbek government statement.

Like other Western companies, Proctor & Gamble reentered the Uzbek market in 2017, the year after Islam Karimov, the reclusive autocrat who had run the country since the 1991 collapse of the USSR, died. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who had been PM under Karimov, took over as president and immediately promised to dismantle most of the hardline policies. He also made it easier for Western companies to repatriate profits.

There are currently 260 people working at Proctor & Gamble’s distribution site in Uzbekistan.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

World Bank predicts strong growth in the region

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JAN. 10 2020 (The Bulletin) — In its annual growth predictions, the World Bank said that Uzbekistan’s economy would grow by 5.7% in 2020, the fastest growth in Central Asia. In the south Caucasus, the World Bank said that Armenia would record the fastest growth with a 5.1% rise compared to a 2.3% rise in Azerbaijan’s economy and a 4.3% rise in Georgia’s economy.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Tourism to Tbilisi grows 16%

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TBILISI/Jan. 6 2020 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s capital city is reaping the results of a major PR push to promote it as one of the must-do travel destinations for 2019 with the government saying that tourist numbers have increased by nearly 16% from 2018.

The main increase comes from Europe and tallies with a rise in the number of flights from Europe to Georgia. There has also been an increase in the number of flights into Georgia from the Middle East, where Georgia is advertised as a cool European-style destination to escape to from the hot Arab summers.

Georgia wants to increase its visitor numbers next year also and to push tourists towards its resorts in the Caucasus mountains and along the Black Sea coast.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Georgia cancels project to build deep sea port at Anaklia

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TBILISI/Jan. 9 2020 (The Bulletin) — The Georgian government cancelled a $2.5b contract to build Georgia’s largest deep-water port at Anaklia on the Black Sea because it said that finances for the consortium which had taken on the project were too flimsy.

Critics of the government, though, accused it of turning the country’s biggest infrastructure projects into a political weapon. One of the key consortium partners is TBC Bank which was set up by Mamuka Khazaradze who is currently standing trial, accused of corruption.

“The Anaklia Port Project is owned by the state, it is not owned by any private investors,” Maia Tskitishvili, Georgia’s minister for regional development and infrastructure, said when she announced that the contract, held by the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC), would be cancelled . “By the end of 2020, we had to have a port in operation but as you can see, we will not get this result.”

She said ADC, led by TBC Bank had failed to replenish capital of $120m or attract a loan of $400m from international banks. ADC disagreed, though, and said that it had secured loan pledges from international banks such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It said that these pledges had been undermined because the government had failed to guarantee to potential investors that they would get their money back is the project collapsed.

ADC said it would take the government to arbitration over the Anaklia contract.
Georgia has framed this project, conceived in 2014 under the current Georgian Dream coalition, as a vital piece of infrastructure needed to boost its status on the east-west transit corridor that China has dubbed the Belt and Road project.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Value of Kazakhstan’s exports drops

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JAN. 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — The value of Kazakhstan’s exports dropped by 18% between January and September last year, a drop linked to lockdowns imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus and also a limit on oil production, imposed to try to prop up its price. The drop in exports will translate into a fall in income for Kazakhstan.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Tajikistan approves Western Union for money transfer services

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DEC. 27 2019 (The Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s Central Bank said that money transfer provider Western Union had been approved for transactions to and from the country. At the start of the month, the Central Bank took control of the wire transfer sorting system and said that it had blocked the two most-used systems, Western Union and Golden Crown. Golden Crown, by far the most popular money transfer service, has still not been approved as a service provider.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Georgia gives Anaklia partners more time to name financers

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DEC. 17 2019 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government extended to Dec. 31 a deadline for the partners developing the Anaklia port on the Black Sea to submit new loan agreements after they missed a Dec. 16 deadline. The Anaklia was supposed to be the biggest infrastructure project built in Georgia, opening it up to more East-West cargo traffic, but instead each side has accused the other of undermining progress. The partners are TBC Holding, the US’ SSA Marine, Britain’s Wondernet Express and Bulgaria’s G-Star.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019