APRIL 21 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s parliament scrapped a five-year agreement signed in 2006 that allowed the Russian military to cross its territory to resupply a base in Armenia. Since the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Russia has used other routes to re-supply its base in Armenia.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
APRIL 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In contrast to the cool reception he received when he visited the European Union in Brussels in January, China laid on smiles and a guard of honour for Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s state visit on April 19/20.
Mr Karimov was in Beijing to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and to sign deals worth billions of dollars including an agreement to double the amount of gas Uzbekistan sells to China. The Uzbek state news website uza.uz said the deals were worth $5b and that Chinese banks had also agreed to lend $1.5b to 4 Uzbek banks for joint-ventures.
The numbers underscore just how much power and impact China can buy in Central Asia. Mr Hu hosted a similar visit to Beijing by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in February.
Over the last few years China has steadily bought up assets across the region, subverting the influence of both Russia and the West.
For the Central Asia states, China allure is not just its wealth, its proximity and its hunger for oil and gas. For now, at least, China is also less troublesome to deal with.
Former colonial power Russia has quarrelled with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan over the price of gas and the West has previously condemned human rights abuses, such as the shooting in 2005 of around 500 people at a protest in eastern Uzbekistan. China, instead, talks of jointly defeating terrorism, is welcoming and lays on the charm.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
APRIL 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Senior officials from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Oman and Iran signed an agreement to link their railway systems to create a transport corridor between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. The deal potentially creates another important export route for oil and gas.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
APRIL 15/16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited Kazakhstan and signed a number of deals. The deals included Indian state energy company ONGC Videsh buying a 25% stake in the Satpayev exploration block, one of the biggest in the Caspian Sea, and for Kazakhstan to supply India with 2,100 tonnes of uranium by 2014.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)
APRIL 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan aims to join a customs union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus on Jan. 1 2012, Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kyrgyz PM, Almazbek Atambayev as saying. The Kremlin has forged closer relations with the Kyrgyzstan since a revolution last April. Moving into the customs union will pull Kyrgyzstan towards Russia’s influence.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
APRIL 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A shootout on the Abkhazia-Georgia border killed a Russian border guard and two Georgians, triggering a row between the Kremlin and Tbilisi. Russia said the Georgians were working under orders from central government but Georgia said the dead men were criminals and showed rebel Abkhazia was lawless.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
APRIL 1 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The International Court of Justice declined to adjudicate on a claim by Georgia that Russia had ethnically cleansed the two rebel enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia during a war in 2008. The UN court said it had no jurisdiction over the claim as all other legal remedies had not been exhausted. Georgia is likely to re-file the complaint at a later date.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 34, published on April 4 2011)
MARCH 31 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Hydrological Agency warned that significantly less snow in its Pamir mountains this year will lead to lower water levels for downstream Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, media reported. Arguments over water supplies are a major source of tension in Central Asia.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 34, published on April 4 2011)
MARCH 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has increased the tax on fuel exports to Tajikistan by 5.3%, media reported. Tajikistan imports nearly all its fuel from Russia. Last year Russia imposed a duty on oil exports to Tajikistan for the first time in 15 years. Russia has previously used tax on fuel to Kyrgyzstan to leverage influence.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia said it would scrap tax on fuel exports to Kyrgyzstan and agreed to invest $750m in Kyrgyz hydroelectric projects, local media reported. Russia and the US are vying for influence in Kyrgyzstan where they both control an airbase.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)