Tag Archives: government

Loan plugs Kazakh government’s deficit

MAY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s ministry of finance said it has agreed to take a $1b loan from the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to plug a budget deficit that has opened up since an economic downturn hit the region. Finance minister Bakhyt Sultanov, said the loan will have a 20-year maturity and will be used to pay for government expenses in 2016.

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(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)

MP quits Georgian Dream

MAY 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armazi Akhvlediani, who had been a rising star of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, quit the party and accused it of selling out its supporters. Mr Akhvlediani’s resignation will shake the Georgian Dream coalition just five months before an election which is expected to be a hard-fought affair against several opposition parties.

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(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)

Kazakhstan announces plans on green energy

MAY 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a statement to the UN, Kazakhstan announced plans to generate 50% of its electricity from alternative energy sources by 2050. This is an ambitious target. In 2014, renewable sources accounted for just 0.5% of production. The Kazakh government often lays out grandiose plans for its economic development. Green energy is the dominant theme of EXPO 2017, a major exhibition scheduled for next year in Astana.

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(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)

Georgian PM attends anti-corruption summit

MAY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At an anti-corruption summit organised in London by British PM David Cameron, Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said his government will consider creating a public register of company information that includes data on beneficial owners. He also said that the government will set up partnerships with other countries to improve cooperation between different intelligence agencies.

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(News report from Issue No. 280, published on May 13 2016)

Tajik Pres. daughter becomes Parliamentary candidate

MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Election Commission approved President Emomali Rakhmon’s daughter, Ozoda Rakhmon, as a parliamentary candidate. Ms Rakhmon is currently head of the Presidential Administration and will run for a seat in the upper house in a May 29 by-election. Democracy advocates have accused Tajikistan of nepotism in selecting public officials.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Kyrgyzstan and Centerra row

MAY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Canadian miner Centerra Gold, owner of the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, once again said that it had not broken any rules in 2013 when it made a dividend payment . It was responding to a raid by police on the Kumtor office in Bishkek. Police were apparently sent to the Kumtor office specifically to search for any evidence of financial crime. Kyrgyzstan wants to increase its stake in Kumtor.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Tajikistan distributes jobs for in-laws

APRIL 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Amonullo Sadulloyev, the brother- in-law of Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, was made chief of Southern Electric Networks, a power distribution company based in Kurgan-Tube. Last August, Mr Sadulloyev was sacked as the deputy director at the national power distributor Barqi Tojik. Transparency activists have criticised Tajikistan for its perceived nepotism.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Editorial: Kumtor and Kyrgyzstan

APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz government and Centerra Gold appear hell-bent on another major row over ownership of the Kumtor gold mine.

Last year, Djoomart Otorbayev resigned as PM after barely a year in office having failed to reach an agreement with Centerra on swapping Kyrgyzstan’s share in the Canadian company for a 50% share in Kumtor.

In December, the authorities sentenced Dilger Zhaparov, former head of state-owned gold miner Kyrgyzaltyn, to three years in prison for authorising an allegedly illegal dividend payment to Centerra.

Now, the Kyrgyz authorities have stormed the offices of Centerra-owned Kumtor Gold Company, in what could be the beginning of a legal dispute.

Centerra replied with a detailed letter, written in unusual legalese lingo. The company argues that the dividend payment was legitimate.

Kumtor is vital for Kyrgyzstan. It is its largest industrial asset and seizing ownership would boost government revenues. All this, though, at the expense of its once-welcoming-now-worsening business environment.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Kyrgyz police raid Kumtor’s Bishkek office

BISHKEK, APRIL 28 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Toronto-listed miner Centerra Gold said that police in Bishkek have raided the offices of its wholly-owned Kumtor Gold Company, reigniting a vicious row between the Canadian company and the Kyrgyz government.

According to Kyrgyz officials, police were looking to collect documents related to allegations of financial misconduct by Kumtor.

Centerra said that the government had previously complained about a financial transaction it carried out in 2013. It once again refuted any allegations of criminal activities.

“The company reiterates that such inter-corporate dividend complied with the 2009 agreements governing the Kumtor Project and all applicable Kyrgyz Republic laws. Any claims to the contrary are without merit,” Centerra said in a statement.

On news of the raid, the Toronto stock market briefly suspended Centerra Gold’s shares.

Centerra said mine operations at Kumtor, which is located in the mountainous east of the country, were unaffected.

The Kyrgyz government owns a 32.7% stake in Centerra.

It has been trying to turn this stake in Centerra into a direct stake in Kumtor, the country’s single biggest asset, triggering a major row.

Kumtor represents around 7% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP and is the country’s most valuable asset.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Kyrgyz Parliament elects speaker

APRIL 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament elected Chynybai Tursunbekov from President Almazbek Atambayev’s Social Democrat party as their new Speaker, ending a week-long deadlock. Mr Tursunbekov received 88 of 120 votes. A previous vote, a week earlier, had failed to elect a Speaker.

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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)