JULY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank is cutting nearly 200 jobs as it restructures and streamlines its operations, media reported. It’s unclear exactly what the restructuring entails but media said that most jobs would be lost at the Central Bank’s offices in Dushanbe.
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(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)
MAY 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan could buy a 29.25% stake in the Karachaganak oil and gas project in the north of the country when Shell completes its buyout of BG Group next year, BG Group said in its annual report.
Kazakhstan has been looking to increase its stake in various projects. Karachaganak was one of the last major operations that the Kazakh government took a stake in. It bought a 10% stake in Karachaganak for $3b in 2012.
Now, with Shell buying BG Group, Kazakhstan has the opportunity to buy a far larger chunk of Karachaganak.
“It is possible that the Republic of Kazakhstan may claim to have a right to acquire the Group’s interest in the Final Petroleum Sharing Agree- ment governing the operation of the Karachaganak gas and con- densate field in the event of a change of control of BG Group following a takeover bid,” BG Group said.
The Kazakh government hasn’t commented.
Karachaganak is one of BG Group’s most prized posses- sions, accounting for 9% of its revenues in 2014. Analysts have said that BG Group’s stake maybe worth around $4.4b.
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(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)
NOV. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s parliament approved a government budget for 2015 that contains a 5.7% spending increase despite global oil prices continuing to fall (Nov. 28).
The Azerbaijani government agreed on its budget when oil was averaging around $90/barrel.
It is now closer to $70/barrel and some commentators said the government was taking a huge risk by not reducing its expenditure.
Economist Natig Jafarli a senior figure in Azerbaijan’s opposition group said: “The country’s economy depends on oil at $66 directly and $80 indirectly. They should have had developed non-oil sector too and they haven’t.”
Mr Jafarli’s references to direct and indirect incomes for the government’s budget is to cash paid in directly by the National Oil Fund and cash from taxes and other duties paid indirectly by oil companies and exporters.
And he may have a point. Certainly the IMF agrees.
In a report last month, the IMF said that Azerbaijan’s economy was particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices because of its excessive decency on it.
Other opposition figures said that they expected social problems next year because of a budget squeeze triggered by the falling oil prices.
If opposition and international economists’ claims that Azerbaijan is over-dependent on oil are correct then the current global oil price squeeze will leave it, and the government’s 2015 budget, exposed.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
OCT. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – With the price of a barrel of oil falling to a four-year low, the Kazakh government has said it will review its national budget. Kazakhstan’s economy is propped up mainly by oil revenues. With oil revenues falling and with sanctions hitting Russia, Kazakhstan’s disposable income has shrunk.
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(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)
SEPT. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On Independence Day, people in Bishkek crammed into cinemas to watch a film geared towards nation-building.
The film’s organisers think the film has a shot at the Best Foreign Film Category at the Oscars. Kurmandjan Datka, Queen of the Mountains received $1.5m from the threadbare republican budget and was part-organised by nationalist MP, Zhyldyz Zholdosheva.
The Kyrgyz-language picture, telling the story of a female clan ruler during the time of the Russian empire, was generally well received, although one viewer, 21-year old Maxat Dukenbayev, said it was some way short of Nomad, a Kazakh state-made epic with 25 times Kurmanjan Datka’s budget and featuring B-List Hollywood actors.
“That didn’t come close to an Oscar,” he said, standing outside Bishkek’s October Cinema.
Not that Nomad did either.
Still, Zholdosheva, who gained a reputation as an outspoken nationalist in the aftermath of ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in 2010 declared herself ready to win an Oscar.
Elsewhere, on a grassy stretch outside Bishkek’s Panfilov Park, scores of Kyrgyz families grilled skewered kebabs and took in national beer.
Kyrgyz films celebrating its independence, seemingly, are not for everyone.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan plans to invest about $500m into its broadband infrastructure over the next few years, media reported quoting the Azerbaijani minister for communications Ali Abbasov. It remains to be seen if Azerbaijan will follow through on this proclamation.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)