Tag Archives: protest

Armenian government declines gas price rise for consumers

YEREVAN/JUNE 19 (The Bulletin) — Consumers in Armenia will not pay any more for their gas despite a push by Russia’s Gazprom, the gas supplier, to increase prices after the Armenian Public Services Regulatory Commission ordered a price freeze.

The ruling is a victory for Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan who has styled himself as the champion of the people since he was propelled to power in a revolution in 2018.

In 2015, street protests against rises to electricity tariffs forced the government into an embarrassing u-turn and Mr Pashinyan was desperate not to stoke frustration now, especially with anger at the government’s handling of the coronavirus growing and the prospect of the economy tipping into a recession.

Quoting the Public Services Regulatory Commission, media in Armenia said that consumers would continue to pay a subsidised 139 Armenian drams per cubic metre of gas and vulnerable groups will pay 100 drams per cubic metre if their consumption does not exceed 600 cubic metres per year.

Instead, businesses that consume more than 10,000 cubic metres of gas per year and greenhouses will pay more for their gas, meeting some of the price rises that the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom had been asking for.

Earlier this month, Mr Pashinyan had proposed that the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union unify gas tariffs across the region.

This was rejected by the Kremlin, though, which said it needed more price flexibility to react to global market moves.

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— This story was first published in issue 451 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin on June 23 2020

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Gazprom wants to increase price of gas for Armenia’s poorest

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YEREVAN/April 1 (The Bulletin) — Gazprom Armenia has applied to the country’s Public Services Regulatory Commission to increase the price of gas that it supplies to the poorest sections of Armenian society from August, media reported (April 1).

Any move by Gazprom Armenia to increase the price it charges Armenian households for gas will be difficult to pull off. The impact of the coronavirus has undermined households’ ability to pay higher prices and Armenian society has a reputation for resisting utility price rises. In 2015 a proposed electricity price rise in Armenia led to major protests in Yerevan and an eventual climbdown.

Reports said that from Aug. 1, Gazprom Armenia wants to charge households on social benefits 36% more for their gas and to slightly reduce the price paid by other households. The overall effect would be to equal out pricing. There is no publicly available data on the number of low-income households on social benefits.

Armenian officials lined up to criticise the proposed price increase, calling it inappropriate given the probable economic impact of the spread of the coronavirus.

“Given the current situation in the global energy market, we consider it appropriate to start new negotiations on reducing the price of thousand cubic meters of gas on the Armenian-Georgian border,” Armenia’s deputy PM Mher Grigoryan wrote in a letter to the chairman of Gazprom, Alexei Miller.

The Russian side has not responded but negotiations are expected to be fraught. When Russia has previously increased the price it charges Armenia for gas, the Armenian government has said that it will switch to buying gas from its neighbour Iran with which it has built up friendly relations over the past decade.

Media also reported that Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the proposed gas price rises. He said that gas should be priced in roubles, which has fallen in value over the past month because of a slump in oil prices and the impact of the spread of the coronavirus.

“We believe that it will be more correct and logical to pay for gas in roubles,” Mr Pashinayn was quoted as saying.

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— This story was first published in issue 441 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

COMMENT: Kazakh government on defensive after activist dies

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>> Concessions are likely from the Kazakh government as it works hard to contain the fallout from the death in police custody of an opposition activist, writes James Kilner.

MARCH 3 2020 (The Bulletin) — As The Bulletin was going to press, a court in the northeastern Kazakh city of Semey ordered the release of Mukhtar Dzhakishev, perhaps the country’s most high-profile political prisoner.

Dzhakishev has been in prison since 2009, sent down because of various financial crimes. He had been a high flyer within the Kazakh elite, at the time of his arrest he was head of the nuclear agency Kazatomptom, although the government of Nursultan Nazarbayev always doubted his loyalty.

Many people, including foreign governments, suspected that the real reason that Dzhakishev had been imprisoned was because he was close to Mukhtar Ablyazov, the billionaire owner of BTA Bank who fled to Moscow and then London in 2009 and set himself up as an opposition leader.

The theory goes that Nazarbayev couldn’t get to Ablyazov, and still hasn’t, but he could take out some of his key Kazakhstan-based associates, including Dzhakishev.

So why release Dzhakishev now? Afterall, Ablyazov is still acting as an opposition leader from his base in Paris and only last year a court rejected Dzhakishev’s appeal for his early release on health grounds.

The answer could well lie with the death in police custody of opposition activist Dulat Agadil. In life, Agadil had not been a particularly serious threat to the government but in death, he had become a powerful force for the government’s opponents to rally around. He died in police custody on Feb. 25 in murky circumstances. The government was quick to rush out a statement saying that Agadil had died of an underlying heart condition and not from police mistreatment. Not many ordinary people believe the government and the opposition had been quick to start organising demonstrations. The one on Saturday was snuffed out by the security forces but more were promised.

Perhaps the release of Dzhakishev was a carrot that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believed was needed to pacify opposition momentum. It has allowed him to show himself as a moderate and even-handed president.

It may also only be the beginning of the concessions that the Kazakh government is prepared to give out to contain the fallout from the death of Agadil. Whether it works or not, The Bulletin will be there to report and analyse in full.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Police in Bishkek disperse protesters with teargas

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MARCH 2 2020 (The Bulletin) — Armed police used teargas to disperse an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 demonstrators in central Bishkek who were protesting against the continued imprisonment of Sadyr Zhaparov, an adviser to ex-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. He was sent to prison in 2017 for taking a government official hostage. The two sides did not fight but it was a reminder of how unstable street-level politics in Kyrgyzstan can be.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Council of Europe summit move to Strasbourg from Tbilisi

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FEB. 26 2020 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government abandoned plans to host the 130th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Tbilisi on May 15 because of concerns that the attendance of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would spark potentially violent anti-Russia demonstrations. Instead, the session will be held in Strasbourg. Georgia currently holds the rotating chair of the 47-member Council of Europe and the Ministers’ Committee was supposed to be a prestige international event in Tbilisi.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kazakh opposition activist dies in police custody

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ALMATY/Feb. 24 2020 (The Bulletin) — Opposition activists accused the Kazakh police of brutality and neglect after one of their colleagues died in police custody.

The government denied that police had mistreated Dulat Agadil, 43, and accidentally killed him in a Nur-Sultan police cell and instead said that he had died of an underlying heart condition.

“I can fully assure people that, unfortunately, the activist Agadil passed away as a result of heart failure. To make any claims counter to this is to go against the truth,” President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a statement.

The statement was not enough, though, to take momentum away from opposition activists who called for a rally four days later in Almaty. Police snuffed out the rally by detaining up to 40 activists before the protest but opposition leaders have promised to continue demonstrations.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Promotion for Kazakh General blamed for Zhanaozen shootings

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ALMATY/Jan. 16 2020 (The Bulletin) — A senior Kazakh government official accused by human rights activists of ordering police to open fire at protesters in the oil town of Zhanaozen in 2011 has been promoted to head the State Guard Service.

General-Colonel Kalmukhanbet Kassymov is seen as a hardline loyalist. He was Kazakhstan’s interior minister between April 2011 and February 2019 and will now head up one of the most senior paramilitary units in the country. The State Guard Service is tasked with providing security for President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and also for former president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

At least 14 people were killed in Zhanaozen in December 2011 when striking oil workers clashed with security forces during celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence from the Soviet Union. Video shot on shaky mobile phones showed police firing at fleeing workers.

Human rights groups have accused Gen. Kassymov of ordering armed police from central Kazakhstan to travel to Zhanaozen, in the western oil region of Mangistau, to confront and, ultimately, shoot protesters.

Gen. Kassymov, 62, is a professional policeman, making his way up through the ranks to become deputy head of the Zhambyl region police force in 1990 before moving into the Presidential Administration in the newly independent Kazakh government. From February 2019, after nearly eight years as Kazakhstan’s interior minister, Gen. Kassymov was made Secretary of Kazakhstan’s Security Council and an aide to the President.

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— This story was first published in issue 434 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Police tear down protesters’ tents in Tbilisi

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DEC. 312019 (The Bulletin) — Rights activists accused the police in Georgia of using the pretext of New Year’s Eve celebrations to dismantle anti-government demonstrations. The protesters had maintained a camp outside Georgia’s parliament since November when MPs voted against backing their demands for election reform. Police said that nine people were arrested during the operation.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

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US warns Georgia that it must improve its commitment to democracy

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TBILISI/DEC. 24 2019 (The Bulletin) — The United States told Georgia’s government that it had to improve its commitment to democracy after weeks of anti-government protests and a counter-demonstration organised by the Georgian Dream coalition.

The intervention into the domestic politics of the US’ most loyal regional ally will be seen as a blow to Georgia leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest man and the architect of the Georgian Dream coalition.

In a statement, the US State Department said that it supported dialogue between opposition groups and the government.

“We urge the Georgian government to reinforce its commitment to the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and rule of law by ensuring that its judicial and prosecutorial system is free of political bias,” it said.

Rights groups have said that the Georgian Dream government has started to use the courts to pursue personal vendettas, allegations that the Georgian Dream government has denied. Opposition groups also accuse the Georgian Dream government of trying to interfere with the appointment of Supreme Court judges.

But a senior Georgian Dream official brushed off the implied criticism in the US statement.
“Anyone who can read this statement knows very well that it is actually supportive,” said Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Dream executive secretary.

Protesters have demonstrated since MPs voted last month against backing plans to introduce proportional representation at next year’s parliamentary election. The government, though, in an attempted to compromise has said that the number of MPs elected by a first-past-the-post system will be reduced at the election.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Uzbek bill proposes tougher new sentences for unsanctioned protests

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DEC. 17 2019 (The Bulletin) — Ahead of a parliamentary election on Dec. 22, lawmakers in Uzbekistan submitted a draft bill that called on punishments for unsanctioned demonstrations to be tightened, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. According to RFE/RL, if the law is approved it will impose a 10-year prison sentence for people organising an unapproved demonstration. This year, there has been a spate of small-scale protests in Uzbekistan, mainly triggered by price rises and a lack of gas and electricity.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019