Tag Archives: Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan opens new power transit line

AUG. 28 2015, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan inaugurated a 450km-long electricity line that the government said would secure an independent power supply.

Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev called it a “historic event,” as it would release Kyrgyzstan from depending on neighbouring countries for the transit of its own power.

“Everyone knows that electricity from the Toktogul dam was transmitted through Uzbekistan. We have paid millions of US dollars for that,” President Atambayev said.

The Datka-Kemin power line links the south of the country to the north, avoiding Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The old Soviet-era power grid forced Kyrgyz-generated power in the south to enter the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before re-entering Kyrgyzstan. This added costs of around $9m, according to the latest estimates, without accounting for the loss of electricity from covering the extra distance.

“Thanks to Datka-Kemin PTL, Kyrgyzstan can annually save around $8-9m,” the Chairman of National Electric Network of Kyrgyzstan Bekbo Mamatbekov said in an interview for 24.kg.

Kyryzstan paid for the power line with a $390 loan from the Import- Export Bank of China. Construction took three years.

Over the past few months, the Kyrgyz government has been forced to increase electricity prices due to a regional economic downturn. The Datka-Kemin power line should reduce utility bills for the population.

ENDS

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

Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan plan TV station

AUG. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Astana, information ministers from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to set up a news channel which will promote a so-called Turkic view of the world. These countries, and especially Azerbaijan, have become frustrated with what they view as biased coverage in Western media.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 244, published on Aug. 21 2015)

Kyrgyzstan joins EEU

AUG. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan formally joined the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union when it dropped customs barriers with its neighbour Kazakhstan, which is also a member. Both Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev and Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev attended a ceremony to mark the occasion. Belarus and Armenia are also members of the group which some critics have said is an underhand way for Russia to increase its political influence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 243, published on Aug. 14 2015)

Kyrgyzstan cuts interest rates

JULY 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank cut its main interest rate to 8% from 9.5% because of a slowdown in inflation. The Central Bank said annualised inflation was now hovering around 6%, nearly half the level seen at the beginning of the year. Kyrgyzstan, like the rest of the region, has been coping with the fall out of a decline in the Russian economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 242, published on August 7 2015)

Kyrgyzstan joins EEU

AUG. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on allowing Kyrgyzstan into the Russia- led Eurasian Economic Union. This was the final piece of paperwork that Kyrgyzstan needed to enter the trade bloc. Other members of the Eurasian Economic Union include Belarus and Armenia, which also joined this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 242, published on Aug. 7 2015)

Kyrgyz court sentences Ex-Osh mayor

JULY 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced Melis Myrzakhmatov, a former mayor of Osh and a firebrand politician with a large following to 7 years in prison for various financial crimes. Myrzakhmatov was viewed as a potential destabilising influence. He has been on the run since January 2014, when he lost his mayoral seat.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Comment: Remittance drop

JULY 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — For Kyrgyzstan, gold is its most important commodity, the Kumtor gold mine in the east of the country is its most important mine and Switzerland is its most important export market.

Last week, the government released data on trade turnover, which showed a marginal downturn, due mostly to the regional crisis triggered by the downfall of the rouble. A strong dollar and low oil prices have damaged the economic outlook for the whole region, especially for countries, like Kyrgyzstan, which rely heavily on foreign remittances. It was not a surprise to see trade shrink by 12% in January-May 2015, as compared to the same period last year.

An accurate data analysis, however, also told of another underlying story. Out of the eight major markets for Kyrgyz exports, the only two to grow were Switzerland (2.2 times larger than in 2014) and the British Virgin Islands (almost 4 times larger).

Centerra Gold, owners of the Kumtor gold mine, had a much better start in 2015 than it had in 2014 and trade with Switzerland, the main importer of Kyrgyz gold, was automatically boosted. Switzerland now accounts for 48% of Kyrgyz exports.

Kyrgyzstan is heavily betting on Switzerland to keep its cash flow steady. The one warning sign on the horizon is that gold has dipped to a 5-year low.

By Paolo Sorbello, Deputy Editor, The Conway Bulletin

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(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Kyrgyzstan downgrades relations with the US

JULY 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – BISHKEK – Kyrgyzstan downgraded bilateral relations with the US because of an award the State Department gave to an imprisoned ethnic Uzbek human rights defender last week, media reported.

Relations between the US and Kyrgyzstan have been worsening since the US military withdrew from an air base outside Bishkek last year. Since then, Kyrgyzstan has drifted towards Russia, joining its Eurasian Economic Union and adopting laws on foreign-funded NGOs and homosexuals which the US has said infringes civil liberties.

The award was given by the US State Department to Azimzhan Askarov. He was imprisoned in the south of Kyrgyzstan in 2010 after ethnic fighting killed nearly 400 people in the city of Osh. His supporters said that the charges, inciting violence, had been fabricated.

After Askarov’s son travelled to Washington to pick up the award, Kyrgyz PM Temir Sariyev signed a decree denouncing relations, which will come into effect on Aug. 20. The move will mean tax breaks awarded to US companies will be cancelled.

On the streets of Bishkek, reaction was mixed. Some people welcomed the tough stance by Mr Sariyev, others were cautious.

“In a couple of years, we will become a colony of Russia,” said a 30-year-old resident of Bishkek. “It is indeed bad that we are losing such assistance because Kyrgyzstan is a poor country.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Kyrgyz forces foil attacks

JULY 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz National Security Committee said it had prevented two attacks planned by the extremist group IS. Kyrgyz special forces said it killed six men during two gunfights in Bishkek. Allegedly, their targets were a square in Bishkek and the nearby Kant airbase, leased to Russia’s military.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Protesters challenge Kyrgyz labour law changes

JULY 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – BISHKEK — Dozens of people protested in central Bishkek against proposed changes to labour laws which they say will reduce the rights of temporary workers.

The main proposed changes focus on making it easier for foreign companies to hire and fire workers.

The government has argued that it needs to update labour laws to crackdown on the “shadow economy” where employers hire people for short periods but do not pay tax.

Protesters said the amendments would help foreign companies dodge paying social security and over-time.

The mood at the protest, which wound its way through central Bishkek under a cloudless blue sky, was angry but calm.

“We are against slavery,” one of the protesters’ banners said.

Many of the protesters were representatives of workers’ unions attached to mines, including the Kumtor mine in the east of the country owned by Toronto-based Centerra Gold. Kumtor is Kyrgyzstan’s single biggest industrial asset.

After the protest, the government said they would set up a working group to look at the demonstrators’ concerns.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 240, published on July 16 2015)