FEB. 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Underlining friendly ties between Russia and Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said Russia would pay a $15m debt to Kyrgyzstan for the lease of its military bases. Mr Medvedev also said he would consider how to help Kyrgyzstan repay the estimated $500m debt it owes Russia.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 079, published on March 1 2012)
FEB. 28 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a rare show of goodwill towards Russia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said during his state-of-the-nation address that he wants to drop visa requirements for all Russians. In October 2010, Georgia started to allow 90-day visa-free entry to Russians living in the North Caucasus.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 079, published on March 1 2012)
FEB. 21 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Tashkent convicted eight Turkish businessmen of corruption and confiscated their assets. Seven of the businessmen were amnestied and deported to Turkey. One, with joint Uzbek nationality, was sent to prison for three years. The men were arrested last year during raids on a large Tashkent supermarket.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)
FEB. 21 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s fractured relations with Iran soured further after police in Baku arrested, for the second time this year, a group of Iranians for allegedly plotting to assassinate foreigners. A few days earlier police detained an Iranian journalist on drug smuggling charges. Iran denied the allegations and threatened reprisals.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)
FEB. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili flew to Afghanistan and, dressed in a military uniform, addressed Georgia’s 900 soldiers attached to NATO forces fighting the Taliban. Two days later Georgia’s defence ministry said a bomb had killed three soldiers. Fifteen Georgian soldiers have now died in the war.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)
FEB. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan has developed a decent business in hosting foreign air bases.
It is the only country in the world where both the US and Russia operate separate air bases giving Kyrgyzstan strategic importance beyond its size.
But not only do the US and Russian air bases lend status, they also generate cash.
In 2009 Kyrgyzstan re-negotiated a deal with the US to allow it to keep its base at the Manas airport outside Bishkek open until the end of 2014, when NATO starts to withdraw from Afghanistan, for $60m/year.
Now it looks as if Kyrgyzstan’s new president, Almazbek Atambayev, wants to reconsider the contract with Russia. As well as the airbase at Kant, Russia also operates a torpedo testing site on Lake Issyk-Kul and two other earthquake measuring and communications centres.
In September 2010, Russia and Kyrgyzstan agreed a $4.5m/year rent for these bases but on Feb. 17 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Mr Atambayev might now have other ideas.
During a speech to students in Osh, Mr Atambayev reportedly said the $4.5m from Russia only covered the rent of the Kant air base and that Moscow still owed cash for the other bases.
He may have been playing to the crowd but he also knows that the military bases are one of the few tools he has to generate extra income.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)
FEB. 8 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Germany, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed around 50 deals worth €3b with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. One of the biggest deals was for German engineering company Siemens to upgrade Kazakhstan’s railways. Germany will also have access to rare metals in Kazakhstan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR said it wanted European partners for its planned Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey. TANAP is considered by some as a rival to the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline proposal. SOCAR will offer part of its 80% stake in TANAP to Western energy companies.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – France’s defence minister, Gerard Longuet, told the magazine L’Orient Le-Jour that NATO’s logistics route through Central Asia is too expensive. NATO has earmarked the route, dubbed the Northern Distribution Network, as the best way of withdrawing soldiers and kit in 2014 from Afghanistan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The main opposition leader in South Ossetia, Alla Dzhioyeva, was hospitalised after security forces raided her office. Officials said Ms Dzhioyeva had a stroke but she said the security forces beat her. The authorities wanted to question her over a break-in at a government building in 2011. South Ossetia is a rebel region in Georgia.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)