Tag Archives: law

Azerbaijan’s President dismisses tax code

FEB. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev refused to sign into law a bill that would have imposed a 20% tax on all foreign currency investments, media reported, an apparent U-turn on a much-heralded government strategy unveiled last month to head off a worsening currency crisis. Azerbaijan’s currency lost around half its value in 2015 and the Central Bank has been under pressure to stop businesses cashing out of manat into other currencies. By refusing to sign the bill, though, Mr Aliyev is effectively saying that law- makers and the Central Bank have to re-think their policies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Kyrgyzstan imposes fines for USD

FEB. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s anti-monopoly said it would start to impose fines against shops, companies and people selling products in US dollars rather than the local som currency. The new rules appear designed to boost the use and the strength of the Kyrgyz som. The som has lost around a third of its value.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Stand Energy files claims against Kyrgyzstan

FEB. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canadian mining company Stans Energy said it filed a claim for damages in the UN arbitration court against the Kyrgyz government. The company says Kyrgyzstan wrongfully terminated its licences to operate the Kutessay II and Kalesay mines in 2012. Stans claims to have invested $128m in the gold mines and will also seek a $91m compensation for interests. The UN court will deliberate in mid-March.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Kyrgyz gov to sue Centerra

FEB. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz PM Temir Sariyev said the government is considering suing Centerra Gold over its plans to issue a fresh batch of shares. According to Mr Sariyev, state owned company Kyrgyzaltyn, which owns a 32.7% stake in Centerra, has signed a contract with a law firm to prepare a case. In 2015, Centerra decided to issue new shares. The Kyrgyz government has complained this would dilute its share.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Editorial: Georgia and religion

FEB. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia looks set to make insulting religion a crime. This new law needs to be treated with extreme care.

It’s vital in a modern, progressive society to keep the principle of free speech sacrosanct and any move to erode this right should be rejected. And it does feel as if Georgian Dream, who know that they are going to be in a very tough, possibly dirty and definitely personal, battle to win a parliamentary election later this year, are playing politics with the issue.

Winning over traditional voters is vital for Georgian Dream. They have previously gone to great lengths to cosy up to the Orthodox Church and its supporters.

By making insulting religion a crime, they are protecting the Church further and should secure more support from the traditional, conservative section of the electorate.

There is a need to protect religion from slurs and insults, but this draconian law is probably not the answer.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Tajikistan to rename cities

FEB. 1 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon ordered Parliament to rename a number of cities, regions and a reservoir to give them more of a Tajik flavour.

Since becoming an independent state in 1991, the Tajik government has been keen to build up a back-story for the country. It replaced most of the Russian place names with names mostly derived from the Samanid Empire (819-919), a common tactic in Central Asia which had not been independent countries before 1991.

In 2007 Rakhmon also dropped the Russian suffix ‘ov’ from his name.

His press office said: “The renaming of districts and cities promotes national values and a sense of dignity. It is especially important to educate younger generations about the rich culture of the ancestors of the modern statehood of Tajik people.”

But not everybody thinks it is such a good idea.

Dushanbe taxi driver Odilbek, 38, said it was a waste of money. “These people do not understand what they are doing,” he said. “We have more serious problems and this is a waste of money. People will call the cities by their old names anyway.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgia to introduce law that punishes blasphemy

FEB. 2 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin)– Georgia took a major step towards introducing a law that will fine people for insulting religion after Parliament’s committee for human rights said that it supported a bill that criminalises blasphemy.

The bill has divided the country, pitting conservative religious groups who say the law is needed to dampen an increase in hate speech against liberal groups who argue the bill will limit free speech.

The parliamentary human rights committee decided that a law was needed to protect all religions from abuse.

Eka Beselia, head of the committee, said that many European countries already have a similar law.

On the streets of Tbilisi, young Georgians generally thought that the law was unnecessary. Otar Babukhadia, 23, a student said: “I think it’s just a popularity contest for the upcoming elections. It won’t affect anything, it’s just a formality.”

The Orthodox Church, a powerful institution in Georgia, issued a statement which said that it was not behind the proposed new law but that it did support fining people for insulting religion.

“Although there are frequent cases of insults and use of hate speech against the Church and its leader, the adoption of such a bill has not been our initiative – neither now nor previously,” it said.

The ruling Georgian Dream is close to the Orthodox Church and Salome Minesashvili, a political scientist at the Georgian Institute of Politics in Tbilisi, said that by introducing this law, which will protect the Church from criticism, the party aims to shore up support ahead of a parliamentary election in October.

“When democracy-linked values clash with traditions, Georgians expect the government to prioritise traditions at the expense of freedom.” she said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Tajikistan pays remittances in somoni

FEB. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank ordered all remittances sent from Russia to be paid out in the local somoni currency. The Central Bank said the move was designed to support the somoni. It has lost around a third of its value over the past few months. Remittances to Tajikistan, vital to the economy, are down. Russia is the main source of remittances.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Kazakh government wins case v Mongolia

FEB. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government defeated a law suit filed against it by Erdenet Mining, a Mongolian company, in a London commercial court over the bankruptcy of a mining company in the 1990s. Although Balkhashmys, the mining company, was private, the Mongolian company still said Kazakhstan had responsibility for its losses. The court in London said that it had no jurisdiction over the case and threw out the Mongolian claims.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgia investigates corruption allegations

FEB. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s ministry of defence said it was investigating allegations that some Georgian soldiers on assignment in the Central African Republic were part of a rouge group of peacekeepers who abused children and raped women. The UN said it had opened an investigation after allegations were levied at peacekeepers. Georgia sent 150 soldiers on an EU-led mission to the Central African Republic between Feb. 2014 and March 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)