Tag Archives: international relations

Georgian rebel region deals with Venezuela

SEPT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Venezuela, one of the few countries which has recognised the self-declared independence of the Georgian rebel states, has signed an agreement with Abkhazia on visa-free travel, media reported. The Georgian foreign ministry denounced the agreement.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

EEU goods reach Kyrgyzstan

SEPT. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Belarusian dairy producer Turovsky Milk Factory exported its first batch of products to Kyrgyzstan, media reported quoting a company spokesman. The shipment is notable because it appears to suggest that, in this instance, the concept of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union trade bloc is working.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Putin gives Armenia $200m

SEPT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin at his villa outside Moscow, Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan said that Russia had agreed to give Armenia a loan of $200m to modernise its military. Russia is one of Armenia’s most important allies and keeps a large military base in the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Iran and Azerbaijan make deals

SEPT. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran’s Khazar Exploration and Pro- duction Co. (KEPCO), a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company, met with officials from the Azerbaijani state oil and gas company SOCAR in Tehran to discuss how best to work together to explore and exploit oil fields in the Caspian Sea. Iran has has begun to re-integrate into the global community.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Kyrgyz president woos Iran

SEPT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Tehran, Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev said he wanted Iran to join the Russia and China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Mr Atambayev held meetings with his Iranian counter-part Hassan Rouhani to persuade Iran, which is set to become a major regional partner once Western sanctions are removed, to invest in infrastructure projects in Kyrgyzstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Armenian PM wants open border policy

SEPT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan wants to allow citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to travel to Armenia without a passport, media reported. He said only 20% of Russians have passports, a major drag on potential tourist numbers, and suggested that they could travel to Armenia on internal passports.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Norway backs Georgia

SEPT. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norway’s foreign minister Boerge Brende visited Georgia to meet with President Giorgi Margvelshvili and PM Irakli Garibashili. In Tbilisi Mr Brende underlined Norway’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity. Importantly for Georgia, Norway is a NATO country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

UN criticises press freedom in Azerbaijan

SEPT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, condemned Azerbaijan’s crackdown on media, the latest high profile institution to criticise Baku. On Sept. 1, a court in Baku jailed journalist Khadija Ismayilova for various financial crimes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

FDI jumps in Georgia by 82% in Q2 2015

SEPT. 9 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Foreign direct investments, so vital for Georgia’s economy, jumped by 81% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2014, the statistics agency said.

The data showed that Georgia attracted investments worth $355m between April and June 2015, up from 196m in 2014 and also up from the 175m in the first quarter of this year.

But foreign investment inflows to Georgia have been volatile over the past few years. In the second half of last year, for example, Georgia attracted investment of over $1.2b although it has damped this year.

Geostat didn’t give a reason for the increase in foreign investment although it said that the single largest investor in the second quarter of the year was Azerbaijan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Turkmen president travels to Kabul

AUG. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov visited Kabul and signed a series of deals with his Afghan counterparts, highlighting just how important he views improved relations between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

The bilateral deals were not particularly ground-breaking — two leaders agreed to share financial data more readily as well as improve improve cooperation in the energy and tech sectors — but the trip itself was important.

Although he is beginning to travel more and more, Mr Berdymukhamedov is not a particularly keen traveller so a high- profile meeting with Afghan president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Kabul is eye-catching.

Mr Berdymukhamedov is worried about the northward march of the Taliban and stability in general in the country.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced which said that Turkmen soldiershadpositioned themselves inside Afghan territory after a series of attacks on their border posts by the Taliban.

Afghanistan is also now a partner in the so-called TAPI gas pipeline project which is planned to run from fields in the east of Turkmenistan to India.

Without stability in Afghanistan and a strong central government the project is likely to remain just a pipe dream.

Expect more Kabul-bound trips by Mr Berdymukhamedov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)