NOV. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Vita Product, a Georgian dairy company, opened a processing plant in Tsalka, 90km west of Tbilisi. The plant, co-financed by the state under the programme Agro Processing Enterprises, will process more than 3,000 tonnes of raw materials and produce cheese and butter.
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(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)
NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — US fast food company Wendy’s opened a new restaurant in central Tbilisi, the largest in the world. Spread over three floors, the restaurant is part of a new strategy by Wendy’s to develop a concentrated presence in a handful of countries rather than spread too thinly across several different countries. In Georgia, Wissol Group own the Wendy’s franchise.Fast-food brands have earmarked Georgia as a growth market.
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(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)
NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Unable to repay its debt to the banks, Unfish, one of Armenia’s largest fish farms, declared bankruptcy. Unfish’s exports to Russia, its main market, have fallen by 50% due to the weakening of the rouble against the Armenian dram. Armenia’s Fish Farmer’s Union asked the government to prevent more bankruptcies.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian authorities lifted a ban on imports of poultry meat and by-products from three US states — Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. In May, Armenia’s Food Safety Service had banned poultry imports from 13 US states, following an outbreak of avian influenza in the US. Armenia lifted the ban for 10 US states in July.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
SEPT. 19 2015, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — City planners in Almaty confirmed that McDonald’s would open its first restaurant in the former Alatau cinema in the centre of the city next year, sparking debate over the US fast food chain’s entry into Kazakhstan.
The old Alatau cinema has been derelict for years but is loved by many people living in Almaty as an iconic part of the city’s architecture.
Karim Toktabayev, a businessman, is part of the campaign team trying to stop McDonald’s from moving into the cinema building.
“I am neutral towards opening of McDonald’s. I cannot say I am against it but I am very much against the demolition of the (former cinema) building,” he said. “Why do we need to demolish this building? Why can’t we save it? If we demolish all the old buildings we will not have any history left.”
Others, though, are more excited about McDonald’s opening. For many Kazakhs it has been a source of irritation that McDonalds, one of the most famous brands in the world never operated a restaurant in the country. Now that wrong can be put right.
“No matter where it opens, I am happy that it will open. We have plenty of cinemas in the city, why should it matter if we open it in one of these cinemas?” said Sholpan Alibekova, a student.
McDonalds has said it will probably open in the first quarter of 2016.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia’s food safety agency, seized 48.5 tonnes of Chinese canned fish being transported via railway to Kyrgyzstan from Estonia. The cargo was sent back to Estonia because its certificates did not comply with Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) rules. Canned fish from China is shipped to Estonia before being sent to Central Asia. The seizure highlights just how complicated transporting products across the EEU has become.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
DUSHANBE, SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — French retail group Auchan said it will supply its new hypermarket in Tajikistan with Russian-produced goods from November after a successful test-run.
The Russian branch of Auchan had earlier signed an agreement with Schiever Group to open a 5,000 square metres store in Dushanbe.
From a warehouse in Novosibirsk, Russia will supply around 80% of the products for sale in Tajikistan’s new store, the company said.
The project, conceived in 2014, was co-financed through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which allocated $5m for the construction of Tajikistan’s first hypermarket. Through the deal, EBRD has become a stakeholder in Schiever Tajikistan.
Tajikistan is the third post-Soviet country, after Russia and Ukraine, to host an Auchan hypermarket. It also plans one in Armenia. Reliant on workers’ remittances, Tajikistan needs more foreign investment.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has doubled cheese imports from Armenia this year, media quoted the head of Russia’s statistics agency, Konstantin Laikam, as saying. Shops in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia have had to diversify their supplier base for cheese and other products to beat EU sanctions.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has approved a bill that will increase customs duties on sausages, fruit, vegetable, softs drinks and fruit juice and come into force on Oct. 1. Mr Berdymukhamedov has said he wants a policy of import substitution.
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(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)
SEPT. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Members of Turkmenistan’s Council of Elders, an advisory body chaired by President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, have urged the government to charge people for using gas and water, media reported.
Free gas and water for people has been a cornerstone of society in Turkmenistan. Charging for it would be a major policy switch and may indicate that the economic turmoil that has has hit the region in the past year has had a heavy impact on Turkmenistan.
“Our people have, for many years, enjoyed unprecedented and unparalleled benefits, such as free water and gas. Given that today the standard of living has increased significantly, I believe it is time to abolish these benefits and introduce a fee,” official media quoted Gozel
Saparmyradova, a physics teacher and a member of the council, as saying.
She was backed up by Khudainazar Atageldiyev, described as a caterer.
“The new amendments to the Constitution will contribute to the development of the non-public sector of the economy,” he said.
Mr Berdymukhamedov was present at the meeting and had earlier delivered a speech in which he had showcased entrepreneurship in Turkmenistan. He didn’t mention the perilous state of the country’s economics nor charging for utilities.
But Mr Berdymukhamedov has previously used the Council of Elders to leak out policy changes and he may be considering charging for gas and water.
What impact this has on the population remains to be seen.
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(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)