JUNE 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Romanian PM Victor Ponta visited his Kazakh counterpart Serik Akhmetov in Astana to discuss the countries’ growing economic cooperation. Kazakh state energy company Kazmunaigas owns Rompetrol which controls an oil terminal on the Black Sea. Romania wants Kazakhstan to increase its use of the oil terminal.
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(News report from Issue No. 141, published on July 1 2013)
JUNE 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan will give passports to people who also hold dual Turkmen-Russian citizenship, media reported. The announcement potentially ends a 10-year feud and will soothe strained relations with Russia. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that in 2003 Turkmenistan’s parliament voted to annul dual Turkmen-Russian citizenship.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s energy company SOCAR has agreed to buy a 66% stake in Greek gas distributor DESFA for $540m, media reported. The deal highlights cash-rich Azerbaijan’s appetite for foreign assets and should also make the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, part of a gas route from the Caspian Sea to Europe, more viable.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — British PM David Cameron will fly to Kazakhstan on June 30 for a two-day visit, Kazakh media reported. Mr Cameron will be the first serving British PM to visit Kazakhstan and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will likely consider the trip a PR coup. Former British PM Tony Blair is an adviser to Mr Nazarbayev.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish security forces extradited to Kazakhstan a Kazakh national wanted in connection with a series of explosions in the town of Atyrau on the Caspian Sea coast in 2011, media reported. Kazakhstan is trying to stem attacks liked to militant Islam. This extradition will be viewed as a success.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) and France’s Total agreed a deal with London and Toronto-listed Tethys Petroleum to develop an oil and gas site in Tajikistan. The deal gives each company a third stake in the Bokhtar project. Developing Bokhtar successfully could transform Tajikistan’s economic future.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — For Western companies, Uzbekistan’s image as a place to do business is at a low ebb. The rule of law in Uzbekistan is considered weak and corruption widespread. India and China, though, have been celebrating some recent successes.
China has been grabbing headlines with large-scale initiatives often thrashed out at government level but Indian companies have also, often more quietly, been making headway.
One of the more eye-catching announcements was that a joint-venture between OliveTelecom, an Indian mobile technology manufacturer, and UzTelecom had started production of its Android tablet near the city of Navoi in central Uzbekistan.
A factory in one of the Uzbek government’s economic free zones, a low tax area for foreign investors, is making the OlivePadV-T300 Tablet PC. The tablet will be sold within Uzbekistan only and retail at 350,000 som (roughly $160).
Production of the OliveTelecom tablet shows that foreign investors can, potentially, operate in Uzbekistan and also that the Uzbek labour market is capable of producing hi-tech gadgets.
Neighbouring Kazakhstan has long said it wants to diversify its economic base away from heavy industry and the energy sector. It can now look to Uzbekistan for advice.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s parliament voted to close a US airbase outside Bishkek by July 2014. Kyrgyzstan has threatened to close the airbase for years but the decision will still irritate the US ahead of a planned military withdrawal from Afghanistan through Central Asia in 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s Gazprom has said it wants to buy a 20% stake in Armenia’s ArmRosGazprom that it doesn’t yet own. Armenia’s government currently owns the outstanding 20% stake in ArmRosGazprom. ArmRosGazprom is Armenia’s monopoly gas distributor and the move would give Russia control over Armenian energy consumption.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Tashkent, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called for the UN to investigate the potential environmental impact of proposed dams in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Water is a sensitive subject in Central Asia and can aggravate inter-country relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)