FEB. 22 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a three-day trip to Beijing, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed a series of deals with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The deals included Chinese funds for a new Astana-Almaty high speed rail link, a uranium supply deal and various oil and gas projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 21 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik state electricity supplier said it would end winter electricity rationing about a month earlier than last year because of the slightly warmer, more rainy weather. Hydropower stations generate most of Tajikistan’s electricity. With Iranian cash, Tajikistan is building another large dam which it plans to open this year and should ensure energy supplies throughout the winter.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 21 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek state TV broadcast a documentary decrying the “evil forces” that created rap and heavy metal music, media reported. The documentary said rap and heavy metal had lead to the moral degradation of youth in the West and that salvation lay with the more gentle tones of traditional Uzbek music.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 23 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – German prosecutors said they had arrested two German nationals involved with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) which is linked to al-Qaeda, media reported. The IMU is blamed for a number of attacks in Central Asia and Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Despite the rather turgid official photos, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev left observers in no doubt how important they viewed relations between China and Kazakhstan when they met in Beijing on Feb. 22.
According to Xinhua, China’s state news agency, Mr Hu told Mr Nazarbayev that his trip to Beijing was the first by a head of state since the Chinese New Year on Feb. 3.
Mr Nazarbayev went one better. He told Mr Hu this was his first overseas trip of 2011.
Away from the platitudes, the deals the two leaders struck underlined how quickly the Sino-Kazakh economic relationship had developed. Mr Nazarbayev returned from Beijing with investment from China worth billions of dollars for a wide range of projects.
Perhaps the most important was for uranium sales. Kazakhstan is one of the world’s biggest uranium producers while China is energy hungry and has said it wants to boost its nuclear energy capacity. According to media reports Kazakhstan pledged to feed China with 40% of its uranium needs over the next few years.
Also agreed was a $1.7b loan from China to Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, Chinese investment for a 1,050km high-speed rail link between Astana and Almaty and a $1b plan to modernise the oil refinery in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea — one of three in Kazakhstan.
According to Mr Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s bilateral trade with China reached $20b in 2010, up 45% from 2009.
It looks set to continue to rise.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iraq’s oil ministry delayed the signing of a deal with Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigas and South Korea’s KOGAS to develop the Akkas gas field in western Iraq. Reuters quoted the Iraqi oil minister saying that hesitation by provincial officials had delayed the deal.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 23/26 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – As part of a three-day trip to the South Caucasus and the Balkans, US deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg visited Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Statements from the State Department said Mr Steinberg had expressed concern over war-like language from Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US ambassador in Yerevan, Marie Yovanovitch, said during a speech to students and activists that Armenia needed deep reforms to move to a more democratic society, media reported. March 1 is the third anniversary of post-election clashes in Yerevan during which 10 people died.
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(News report from Issue No. 29, published on Feb. 28 2011)
FEB. 18 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United States spent $28m in 2010 in Uzbekistan on supplies for NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said on an official trip to Tashkent. He also praised Uzbekistan’s role in the NATO supply chain.
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(News report from Issue No. 28, published on Feb. 21 2011)
FEB. 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and Iran agreed to build an oil pipeline running 365km from Tabriz to Eraskh, media quoted the Armenian energy minister, Armen Movsisyan, as saying. The $100m pipeline will open in 2013. Mr Movsisyan said it was important to diversify Armenia’s energy supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 28, published on Feb. 21 2011)