Tag Archives: property

Tajik capital demolition angers many

OCT. 23 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Tajikistan plan to demolish some of Dushanbe’s most striking buildings to make way for new developments, infuriating many people.

Specifically, city planners are eyeing up the Rohat teahouse — a tourist destination — two theatres, the former presidential administration and the current parliament building for demolition. All of the buildings lie on prime real estate in the city centre and were built during the early Soviet period.

Nurali Saidzoda, deputy head of architecture and construction committee, told Tajik media last week that the buildings selected for demolition are not unique.

“If you had seen the blueprints of what will be built in their places, you would say the same,” he said.

The Tajik authorities appear to have something of a fad for large construction projects and grandiose design. Over the past few years they have built the biggest library, biggest teahouse, and biggest mosque in the region.

But not everybody was happy. Grassroots activism is rare in Tajikistan but, even so, hundreds of people signed an online petition calling for the demolition to be scrapped.

Fotima, an old woman walking in central Dushanbe, said she was concerned about the future of the city.

“The buildings to be demolished carry the spirit of the city. The city will not be as the same as I remember it anymore,” she said.

Abdulfattoh Shafiev, a Dushanbe- based analyst, said the demolition plans was linked to business.

“Demolition of old Stalinist buildings in the Tajik capital is completely unrelated to any ideology and is simply a business idea to build new and bigger skyscrapers in the most valuable part of Dushanbe, down- town,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 253, published on Oct. 23 2015)

Georgian property market slumps on worsening economy

SEPT. 30 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Real estate prices in the Georgian capital have fallen by 15% this year, a drop that industry insiders blame on the collapse in the value of the lari currency.

In an interview with The Conway Bulletin, Anna Jalagonia, president of the Georgian Association of Realtors, said a 40% fall in the lari since last summer had spooked foreign investors.

“Investors prefer to wait because of the unstable situation in the country,” she said.

This bodes badly for Georgia, whose economy is to a large extent dependent on foreign investment.

Like the rest of the region, a slump in oil prices and the sluggish economic performance of Russia, the region’s main driver, has undermined Georgia’s economy. The Central Bank has spent millions of dollars trying to protect the value of the lari, inflation is rising and GDP growth rates are being revised down.

Neli Goguadze, director of the real estate agency Kibe, said that the situation in Georgia’s real estate sector had reached a tipping point.

“The problems began a few months ago due to the devaluation of the national currency,” she said. “For there to be a revival, the market needs a serious boost.”

Last month, the Central Bank increased its key interest rate to 7%, it’s highest rate since December 2011, as it tried to support the lari.

But some real estate analysts said that this interest rate increase may actually cause more problems.

“Real estate transactions are usually made in US Dollars,” said Papuna Kokhtashvili, owner of the Georgian franchise of US-based RE/MAX Property Advisors. “The increase in interest rate for loans results in a reduction of demand for property.”

And is could get worse, as Ms Jalagonia of the Association of Realtors explained during her interview.

“At the end of the year the situation will be worse as the national currency rate will continue to influence the market and winter and the fall are usually slow times for real estate acquisition. That combined will be a problem,” she said. “Prices for residential real estate have already fallen by about 15% and will continue to decline.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Azerbaijan’s oil fund buys Tokyo shopping centre

SEPT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sofaz, the Azerbaijani oil wealth fund, bought property in Japan worth $435m, its first foray into the east Asian property markets.

In a statement, it said that it had teamed up with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation to buy the landmark retail property Kirarito Ginza for 52.3b yen.

Shahmar Movsumov, the fund’s executive director, said he was excited by the purchase. “We are delighted to have made our first foray into the Japanese real estate market. Our investment rationale for this asset is based on its capital preservation capacity,” he said.

In the past few years, Sofaz has been developing its property portfolio with purchases in London, Paris, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. Last month it said that it would reduce payments to the national budget as its earnings had fallen because of the collapse in oil prices.

In July the fund, which holds around $37b earmarked for infrastructure projects, bought $500m of Chinese government bonds, part of planned diversification of its assets.

Kirarito Ginza is a modern retail building built on Tokyo’s Chou Avenue, one of the most prestigious streets in the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Property price fall in Azerbaijan

JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Experts in Azerbaijan’s real estate sector are predicting a drop in house prices this year as the market reacts to a decline in economic conditions in the region, media reported. A sharp fall in oil prices and the value of the Russian rouble have hit the former Soviet region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

Kazakh property market shrinks

>>Currency devaluation inflated early data>>

JAN. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The number of property deals in Kazakhstan dropped by over 13% last year, the State Statistics Committee data showed, more evidence of a downturn in the economy.

The biggest drops in the number of property transactions were in North Kazakhstan — a fall of 25% in the number of property deals in 2014 compared to 2013 — and the Akmola, Almaty and Karaganda regions which all had a fall of around 20%.

Only some of the western regions, experiencing something of an oil boom, enjoyed a small increase in the property market in 2014.

This is all bad news for Kazakhstan which is trying to keep its tenge currency strong despite a fall in the price of oil and a drop in the value of the Russian rouble.

Earlier, the shrink in Kazakhstan’s property market had been disguised by figures which showed that the value of the deals had actually increased by over 10% in 2014. A currency devaluation of 20% in February 2014 inflated the value of transactions in the Kazakh market.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015)

Foreigners barred from buying land in Georgia

SEPT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Until July farmers from around the world had eyed up Georgia as good place to move to, buy a patch of land and start farming.

On July 17, though, President Mikheil Saakashvili signed a decree passed by parliament that places a moratorium on foreigners owning land.

Mr Saakashvili had, it has to be said, been against the decree but he was powerless to resist parliament which is now controlled by an opposition coalition led by PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Mr Ivanishvili’s government has proved their populist touch once more.

The previous government of Mr Saakashvili’s United National Movement had suspended a law banning foreigners from owning land unless they were part of a Georgia-registered business. They said that foreigners’ expertise was needed to boost productivity and efficiency.

They also actively encouraged some groups, such as Boer farmers from South Africa to migrate to Georgia. Other groups also arrived, such as Punjabi Indians.

This, though, triggered a backlash. Local people protested earlier in the year under the banner: “Georgian land for Georgians”. Once again politics and business in Georgia appear intimately entwined.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Azerbaijan funds resort in Montenegro

JULY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has been on something of a spending spree. Whether through SOFAZ, the state’s oil fund, or through SOCAR, the state energy company, Azerbaijan’s government has spent millions of dollars on overseas investments.

These included properties in some of the world’s most expensive cities — SOFAZ bought an office block in London’s St James’ for $286m in 2012, then spent $180m on property in Paris and $133m on a building in Moscow — as well as large currency deals and gold purchases.

Property prices in London and Paris are soaring and gold is seen as a sensible long-term bet so these appear solid investments. Azerbaijan’s latest investment, though, strikes an off-beat cord.

Azerbaijani and Russian news website reported comments made in Moscow by the visiting PM of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, on July 12. He said SOCAR had agreed to spend 500m euro building a new luxury resort on Montenegro’s attractive Adriatic coast.

Various websites have since reported that two private companies, Triangle Investments and Developments Limited and Azmont Investments LLC, will pursue the project on behalf of SOCAR.

For most countries, spending 500m euro on building a luxury resort in Montenegro is a risky investment choice.

(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)

Azerbaijan’s SOFAZ makes London property deal

DEC. 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state oil fund, SOFAZ, bought a $285m building in central London, its first significant purchase for its new international property portfolio, media reported. Azerbaijan’s wealth fund is worth an estimated $33b.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)