MARCH 13 2015 (The Bulletin) – Garment production in Kyrgyzstan dropped by 50% in the first two months of the year, media quoted the Kyrgyz national statistics agency as saying. The agency did not say why clothing output had plummeted but it may be linked to the regional economic downturn.
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(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)
FEB. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a major boost for the retail market in Tajikistan, Auchan, the French supermarket brand, has agreed to open up its first franchise in Dushanbe later this year.
Media said that Auchan had signed a deal with French distributor Schiever to manage the stores.
It did not report where exactly the store would open but it did say that it would stock mainly Russian produce and open in 2015.
Schiever already runs Auchan’s stores in Poland.
The news is, obviously, good for Tajikistan which has been short on positive economic news lately. It’s also a departure from the norm.
Headlines from Tajikistan recently have focused on major Chinese expansion but little investment from European retailers.
It will also shake up the Tajik retail sector which has been dominated by small shops selling goods of variable quality. The Auchan store will, according to press reports, be roughly the size of a football pitch.
The Auchan store project is partly financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which has expanded its portfolio of projects across the region. In 2014, the EBRD said, it invested 100m euro into Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kenes Rakishev, one of the best connected men in Kazakhstan, bought a minority stake in retailer Magnum Cash & Carry. Magnum has seven shops in Almaty and two in Astana. Reports did not say how much Mr Rakishev paid for his stake nor who he bought the stake from.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
NOV. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek financial police closed clothes shops in Tashkent selling Western brands. The raids on Mango, the United Colours of Benetton and others underline the difficulty of business in Uzbekistan. Media reports said the shops were linked to Gulnara Karimova, daughter of President Islam Karimov.
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(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
JULY 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Recognisable by its unreformed Soviet style packaging and logo, Rakhat chocolate is iconic in Kazakhstan; symbolism even laces the name. In Kazakh, Rakhat means “pleasure”.
Rakhat is a rare example of an established Kazakh retail brand and that makes its sale important.
According to a company announcement on July 2, Lotte Confectionery, a South Korean company, has agreed a deal to buy 76% of Rakhat from four shareholders for about $120m. On the Kazakh stock exchange website these shareholders were listed as Natalya Khilchuk (11% stake), BD Associates ltd (UK, 29% stake), Anatoliy Popelyushko (25.45% stake) and Sweet City LLP (12.2% stake).
The deal values Rakhat, which had sales of nearly $200m in 2012 and employs 4,000 people, at roughly $157m.
Rakhat is one of the most high profile Kazakh retail companies ever sold. This is not an oil and gas company nor a mining company, it is a chocolate maker and its sale highlights Kazakhstan’s growing appeal to consumer brands.
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(News report from Issue No. 142, published on July 8 2013)
YEREVAN/Armenia, JUNE 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Carrefour, the French supermarket brand famed for its aggressive discount model, was supposed to open its first branch in Armenia last December. It didn’t hit this target although it has established an office in Yerevan.
Rumours on just why Carrefour’s launch has been delayed, drift around the Armenian capital. Most of these suggest that local, well-connected businessmen who control the supermarkets in Armenia don’t want the competition and have called in a few favours to delay the opening.
Regardless, the delay is frustrating people.
“Carrefour is no angel,” Anna Kachatryan, a 40-year-old housewife, said. “But I think that we need this sort of company to establish themselves in Armenia.”
She wanted food prices to drop and thought that Carrefour would help do this.
Armen Safarya, 54, though, said that he worried that Carrefour would become the dominant supermarket in Armenia and would end up harming local producers by pushing down their fees.
“This is not the solution,” he said. “Carrefour will control the entire market and will make local producers suffer.”
Carrefour itself has not explained the delay in opening its first store in Yerevan, although it has insisted that one would open by the end of 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)
MAY 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Consumer markets in Central Asia and the South Caucasus region are maturing, as Tesco, the British supermarket chain, has realised.
Or at least, consumer markets in some of the region’s countries are maturing.
Tesco’s clothing department, which trades under the brand name F&F, announced that it planned to open various franchise stores across the Middle East, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Specifically it said that F&F would open a store in Astana, the Kazakh capital by the end of June, to be followed by stores in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
These will be opened through franchise agreements with Saudi Arabia-based Al Hokair and Dubai-based Futtaim.
The deal and Tesco’s intention to expand across Central Asia and the South Caucasus is important as it acts as further evidence that consumer demand in these markets is changing.
Long associated with the luxury market, Western high street brands have moved into Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, over the past couple of years and now, with the arrival of Tesco, it appears that discount brands are following.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
FEB. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – A shopping centre, a food production plant and a chain of car repair garages will be the first state-owned enterprises sold on March 9 during Turkmenistan’s privatisation process, media quoted officials as saying. More items are due to be privatised although it is unclear if this will include oil and gas assets.
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(News report from Issue No. 123, published on Feb. 8 2013)
Nov. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Showing confidence in Georgia’s retail market, the EBRD said it had agreed to lend Smart Supermarkets, a relatively new chain of local convenience stores, $26m. The loan will be used to build a distribution centre and open 28 new shops across the country, mainly in residential areas.
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(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)