Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Editorial: Kyrgyzstan’s hydropower troubles

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – For Kyrgyzstan, hydropower represents a genuine export opportunity. With the World Bank-sponsored CASA-1000 project, is is developing a market alongside Tajikistan for its power in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The problem is that it needs huge capital investment to upgrade and expand upon its mainly Soviet-era hydropower plant network. And the pulling out of Russia from the Kambar-Ata-1 plant represents a real step backwards.

This was the $2b project that would have underscored Kyrgystan’s power exports. Now it needs to find an alternative investor.

Of course, China is always there, ready to help out with infrastructure projects in Central Asia, but its economy has been jittery and it may not fancy taking on such a big project. India has been looking to expand its influence into Central Asia but it has focused on oil and gas projects. That leaves Western financial institutions and, in particular, the World Bank. It has pledged to fund half of the $1.2b CASA-1000 costs. It may now have to help Kyrgyzstan out with Kambar-Ata-1.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Centerra- part owned by Kyrgyzstan rows over Mongolia license

JAN. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canadian gold miner Centerra Gold, which is part owned by Kyrgyzstan, said it would apply to the International Court of Arbitration over its dispute with the Mongolian government on the development of a gold mine. Centerra has said that the Mongolian government is taking too long to decide whether or not to give it a licence to exploit the mine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Gazprom Kyrgyzstan pays debt

JAN. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gazprom Kyrgyzstan, a fully-owned subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom, paid off a $41.6m debt that the Kyrgyz company has owed to its Kazakh counterparts since 2004. Gazprom bought Kyrgyzgas for $1 in 2014, promising to pay off its debts. This deal appears to underline Gazprom’s drive to make good on this promise.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Highland appoints new CEO for Russia and Kyrgyzstan operations

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Jersey-based Highland Gold Mining said it appointed a new CEO to oversee its operations in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Highland’s operations are mostly focused in Russia, but it is exploring the Unkurtash gold mine, located near Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan. Denis Alexandrov, formerly Highland’s finance director, takes over as CEO from Valery Oyf who remains a director.

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(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s GDP growth slows

JAN. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s economy grew at 3.5% in 2015 compared to 4% in 2014, the state statistics committee said. The statistics committee said that the main reason for the slowdown was an 8% drop in production at the Kumtor mine. Production slowed at Kumtor, which is owned by Toronto-listed Centerra Gold, when it enlarged the mine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Kyrgyz directors at Centerra Gold argued against shares

BISHKEK, JAN. 13 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with local media, senior Kyrgyz government officials said they had pushed hard against the issue of an extra 4.6m shares in Centerra Gold, the Canadian mining company in which Kyrgyzstan owns a 32.7% stake.

Centerra Gold owns the Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan’s most important economic asset. The interview with local media again shows how far apart Kyrgyzstan and Centerra Gold are on their various strategies.

Kylychbek Shakirov, a government-appointed board member at Centerra Gold, told media that he and his two Kyrgyz colleagues voted against issuing the shares, as this measure would dilute the total stake that Kyrgyzstan owns in the company.

“The Board of Directors of the company at the extraordinary session on December 17, 2015, made the decision to issue 4.6m additional shares,” Mr Shakirov said.

“We failed to achieve cancellation of the previous decision because three members of the board voted against issuance of new stocks and 8 members voted for it.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Currencies: Azerbaijan’s manat, Kazakhstan’s tenge

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In Azerbaijan, people took to the streets to protest against inflation and unemployment. The manat grew slightly to 1.58/$1, but what angers people most is the increase in prices, especially for imported goods.

In Kazakhstan, the tenge depreciated further to 366/$1, a 6% drop on the previous week. Many worry now that there could be no end to the downward spiral.

In Tajikistan, the somoni lost an additional 2% this week, trading at 7.38/$1. The currency slide in the country doesn’t seem to slow.

In Kyrgyzstan the Central Bank has kept the som stable at 75.9/$1 by intervening several times in the currency market. The Georgian Central Bank also protected the lari with a few interventions. In Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, the governments imposed further restrictions on the trade of foreign currencies, by limiting licenses to banks, airports and, in Azerbaijan’s case, hotels.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Stock market: Centerra Gold, Central Asia Metals

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mining companies in Central Asia had different experiences this week.

In Toronto, Centerra Gold shares fell 6.6% to 7.01 Canadian dollars. The company’s optimistic results published on Jan. 11 gave its shares a short-lived boost at the beginning of the week, but the continuation of the row with the Kyrgyz government may be eroding investors’ confidence.

Kazakhstan-focused Central Asia Metals lost 8.2% in the week, but closed on an upward note at 128.75p on Thursday. Against this trend, KAZ Minerals gained 5% this week, closing at 94.5p.

Oil and gas companies continued to suffer through the lowest oil prices in a decade, now heading below $30/barrel. Tethys Petroleum, which had financial troubles in its operations in Tajikistan, lost 26% in London to close at 2.13p on Thursday. In the past week, Nostrum Oil & Gas shares lost 8.4% to 329.9p. Roxi Petroleum also lost 12.3% to close at 7.13p.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan border dispute arises

JAN. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz soldiers accused Uzbekistan of shelling their positions around the border in the south of the country, media reported. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan often trade barbed comments and accuse each other of infringing one another’s territory around their shared border areas. Analysts have said these disputes could destabilise the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s Kumtor beats forecast

JAN. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canadian miner Centerra Gold said it had exceeded its 2015 production forecast and that output would be stable in 2016 at Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, Kumtor. Kumtor produced 520,695 ounces of gold in 2015, or 97% of Centerra’s total production. The company said that in 2016 Kumtor will represent 100% of Centerra’s gold output. Kumtor is vital to the Kyrgyzstan economy, accounting for around 10% of its total GDP.

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(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)