Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan’s Atambayev orders investigation into corruption by rivals

BISHKEK, NOV. 13 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev appeared to be taking his revenge on opposition groups who quit the government last month over his plans to hold a referendum in December that would change the country’s constitution.

Media reported that he had held a meeting with the head of the National Security Committee, Adil Segizbayev. At the meeting Mr Segizbayev told Mr Atambayev that the government of Belize had passed on information that a handful of Kyrgyz politicians had helped Maxim Bakiyev, the hated son of deposed former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, set up bank accounts in the Central American country.

Mr Segizbayev did not give any names out but in accompanying photos of documents linked to the case, the names of former justice minister Almanbet Shykmamatov, former general prosecutor Aida Salyanova and MP Omurbek Tekebayev are all clearly visible. They form the core of a group of MPs in the Ata Meken party who pulled down Kyrgyzstan’s coalition government last month. They have said the allegations, which haven’t shifted into charges yet, are unfounded.

Mr Atambayev can’t stand for another term as president next year and his rivals worry that he is tinkering with the constitution so that he can take over as an empowered PM once he leaves the presidency.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Kyrgyz exports fall

NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the first nine months of the year, Kyrgyzstan said that its exports had fallen by 9% and imports by 4.5%. The data confirms the view that the economies of Central Asia are still being squeezed by an economic downturn triggered in 2014 by a drop in oil prices. The drop in oil prices tipped Russia’s economy into a recession. Russia is the regional economic driver.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Kyrgyzstan announces amnesty

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan released 1,277 inmates from its prisons in an amnesty designated to celebrate both the 25th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union and also the 100th anniversary of an uprising against imperial tsarist forces. The pan-Central Asia rebellion of 1916 was triggered by a decree from the Tsar to mobilise men to fight for Russian forces in the First World War. Russian soldiers repressed the rebellion within a year, killing thousands of people. Different governments have interpreted the uprisings through different lenses. The Soviet Union saw the uprisings as a class struggle. The newly independent countries of Central Asia frame them as national-liberation movements.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

EBRD and EU expand loan for Kyrgyzstan

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD and the EU will expand their programme to support improvements in Kyrgyzstan’s energy efficiency with a $45m loan. The new credit line seeks to boost energy efficiency, particularly for water usage, for Kyrgyz businesses and households.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials meet

NOV. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek and Kyrgyz officials met in Ferghana City, Uzbekistan, to agree resolutions to seven more border dispute areas, the 24.kg news website reported. The border resolution process is part of a drive by Uzbekistan since the death of Islam Karimov in September to repair damaged relations with its neighbours. 24.kg reported that the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border was 1,378km long and that nearly a third of this has been disputed.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Comment: C.Asia and S.Caucasus eye up a Trump presidency, says Kilner

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Donald Trump, the incoming US president, has a long list of issues that need tackling in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, not least the dominance of China and Russia.

Central Asia, in particular, has traditionally been an arena where the world’s great powers have shadow-boxed, testing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This is just as true today as it was during the 19th century’s Great Game between Russia and Britain. Now, though, China has entered the fray and the West is led by the US and not Britain.

Since NATO withdrew most of its forces from Afghanistan in 2013/14, US interest in Central Asia has waned and it has ceded diplomatic, economic and cultural influence to Russia and China.

When she was Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013, Hillary Clinton promoted a new north-south Silk Road running from Central Asia to India. This was to be US soft power in action, a commercial push to rival influences exerted by China through its loans and by Russia through its diplomatic and energy levers. It hasn’t shaped up to much, and Clinton wont now be able to see it through, but Trump, a businessman and reality TV star, may be well-placed to invigorate this north-south Silk Road.

Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus will also be watching his policies on NATO, Russia and Iran.

Georgia has, perhaps, the most to be concerned about. It has struck out on a determinedly Western direction and needs a strong US and NATO as a counterpoint to Russia. If the US’ commitment to NATO wanes, Georgia will be more vulnerable to Russian aggression. Certainly its two breakaway states, Russia-backed Abkhazia and South Ossetia, will feel emboldened.

Barack Obama brought Iran back into the international community by partly lifting sanctions linked to the development of its nuclear sector. Its reemergence was heralded in Central Asia and the South Caucasus as an opportunity. They will be looking to a US led by Trump to boost, and not deflate, Iran’s place in the world. They want Iran to be an economic driver.

And the US’ relationship with Russia is important too. If US-Russia relations don’t improve, and the Russian economy continues to shrink, this filters through to Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

They will be looking for an improvement in US- Russia relations to generate a boost for the Russian economy.

By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

WHO declares Kyrgyzstan malaria-free

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Kyrgyzstan to be free of malaria, marking the culmination of a 15 year plan to eradicate the disease. Kyrgyzstan had been free of Malaria from the mid- 1960s until the late 1980s and 1990s when migrant workers brought it back into the country from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Grounded flights in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air traffic in Central Asia and the South Caucasus continues to suffer from the regional economic slump, as major international carriers cut flights and leave the market to fickle domestic players.

Most notably this year, British Airways cut its London-Baku link, the last remaining destination for the British flag carrier in the region. The connection had lasted over 20 years, ever since BP started to negotiate the so-called Contract of the Century.

Demand for air transport, however, has shrunk, especially in the business market. Low

commodity prices have made many regional business unprofitable. This, added together with some damaging reputational issues, such as the delisting of Kazakhstan’s ENRC from the London Stock Exchange, have made many Western businesses wary of the region.

So it’s not surprising that Turkish Airlines dropped its connections with Osh and Khujand when it decided to downsize its global network because of a drop in demand. The second-largest cities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan just cannot make the cut for commercially viable air links.

Turkmenistan’s new flights to Georgia were also postponed indefinitely this week, a sign that even diplomatically-motivated aviation routes need to be profitable.

On the positive, the Russian and Tajik aviation committees agreed a deal to end their short-lived dispute over routes. This is important, vitally important, for Tajikistan’s migrant workforce who rely so heavily on Russia for their income.

Air routes have become part of a modern-day annual commute for people in developing countries, needed to carry them to waiting jobs.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Stock market: Centerra Gold

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Encouraging production results at Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, Kumtor, supported Centerra Gold shares in Toronto, although they were weighed down by a fall in the price of gold.

The company said that because a court in Bishkek has restricted its access to cash held by its Kumtor gold mine, it could not pay a quarterly dividend and may have to seek a cash injection to continue operations. It didn’t give any more details of this but it would be a departure from previous policy.

The spat with the Kyrgyz government, which has become increasingly heated in the past two years, seems to be constantly on the verge of breaking point.

In general, though, Centerra’s share price has followed the price of gold. However, should news from Kyrgyzstan continue to be negative, Centerra’s stock price might start diverging from this pattern.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kyrgyz parliament approves new government

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved the composition of a new government, still dominated by Pres. Almazbek Atambayev’s Social Democratic Party, after a row over a referendum next month led to the collapse of the previous coalition. Two parties, Kyrgyzstan and Bir Bol, have entered the coalition and been given ministerial positions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)