Tag Archives: society

Children in Armenia stunted, UN WFP reports

MARCH 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A joint report from the UN’s World Food Programme and Armenia’s Statistics Committee said that around 19% of Armenian children under the age of five are stunted, a consequence of widespread malnourishment in the country. The report also noted that around 15% of the surveyed pool is overweight. This is commonly known as a “double malnutrition burden” which can become a public health concern if it spreads across the population. The report concluded that the Armenian government needs to take action to invert this negative trend.

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

 

UK introduces new visa process for Kazakh citizens

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The UK government introduced a new Super Priority visa service for citizens of Kazakhstan. The new service will cost an extra £750 ($1,060) in addition to the consular fees and will ensure delivery within 24 hours. The government also said the new process can be used to apply for long term, multi- entry visas. “Last year the UK issued over 15,000 UK visas for Kazakhstani citizens,” Carolyn Browne, British ambassador to Kazakhstan said in a statement. London is a favoured destination for Kazakhstan’s wealthy.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

 

Kazakh ministries ban smart phones

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Government ministries in Kazakhstan have banned smart phones from buildings to try and stop official documents being leaked. The ban, apparently, was to try and stop officials from photographing documents with their smart phone and then sending them on to people using WhatsApp. Kazakhstan has launched a number of drives over the past few years to try and professionalise its civil service.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

 

Azerbaijan cancels daylight saving time

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan cancelled daylight saving time, first introduced in 1997. It’s unclear, specifically, why Azerbaijan decided to abandon its daylight saving time. News reports said that Azerbaijan’s time would remain at GMT +4.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

 

Uzbek health sector receives funding

MARCH 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kuwait Fund for Arab Development said it had agreed to give a $24m loan to finance buying urology equipment for hospitals in Uzbekistan. The Kuwait Fund is sponsored by the Kuwaiti government. Kuwait has, over the past couple of years, developed more interest in Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

 

Uzbekistan raises gas prices

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has approved gas price increases of 8.2% for its population from April 1, the second price rise in six months.

Utility prices across the region have been increasing over the past couple of years as local currencies have devalued and overall inflation has accelerated.

But they are still sensitive, emotive issues.

Gas and electricity have always been subsidised in the former Soviet Union, so people generally resent increases.

In October, the authorities raised gas prices by 7.2%. This time, other utilities will also rise in Uzbekistan, the government said.

The price of cold water will rise by 5.7%, central heating and hot water by 9% and electricity by 8.9%. Last year in Armenia, proposed electricity price rises triggered street demonstrations that forced the government to back down from increasing prices.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

 

Editorial: Banking in Tajikistan

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – There are two kinds of banking crises. One is when the financial sector struggles to stay healthy, as toxic assets mar the books of commercial banks, as seen most notably in Kazakhstan in 2011-2013.

The other one is a crisis of trust, when citizens start doubting the ability of their banks to provide cash and protect their savings.

This second type of crisis is now happening in Tajikistan. Our correspondent listened to angry voices from the long queues forming outside Tojiksodirotbank, Tajikistan’s third-largest lender.

A regional economic downturn has hit Tajikistan hard, especially because of the sharp drop in the value of worker remittances from Russia.

The government has put the blame on external and private factors. Notably, the Central Bank blamed exchange offices for the imbalance in the exchange rates.

Now responsibility seems to be shifting to commercial lenders, which are a channel for remittances and an increasingly popular method for paying wages among businesses.

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Editorial from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

 

Georgian students protest

MARCH 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hundreds of students at Tbilisi State University staged a sit-in to protest at what they said was the non transparent way the university decides on its management structure. The protest attracted nationwide attention, and even forced the intervention of PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili. Some analysts said that the protest could spread.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

 

Kazakh President’s grandson quits as Astana deputy mayor

MARCH 16 2016, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin)  — Nurali Aliyev, grandson of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, quit his position as deputy mayor of Astana to pursue his business goals, a move that draws him away from the succession debate.

His decision came just days before a parliamentary election, in which his mother, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s eldest daughter Dariga, was standing for re-election.

“I’m looking to work in business development in a financial niche,” media quoted 31-year-old Mr Aliyev as saying. “For many years, before working in the akimat, I was engaged in business.”

Mr Aliyev is the son of Dariga Nazarbayeva and the late Rakhat Aliyev, who was found dead in a Vienna prison in February 2015. He had been charged with the murder of two bankers at Kazakhstan’s Nurbank in 2006.

Prior to being appointed as deputy mayor of Astana in 2014, Mr Aliyev had worked in Kazakhstan’s banking, telecoms and transport sectors.

But it was his shock appointment in December 2014 to one of the Kazakh capital’s most important positions, that threw him into the public limelight and set off rumours that he was being groomed for the top job.

His grandfather, Pres. Nazarbayev, is 75 years old and has said that he is nearing retirement. What he hasn’t done is set out a clear succession schedule.

One of the theories put forward after Mr Aliyev’s appointment as deputy mayor of Astana was that his mother would take over the top job in four or five years time and, effectively, keep the seat warm for her son to take over when he was old enough. The Kazakh constitution states that the minimum age for a president is 40.

Other than citing a preference to resume a business career, Mr Aliyev didn’t say why he was quitting as deputy mayor of Astana.

What his resignation definitely has done, though, is set off renewed Kazakh presidential succession speculation.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

 

Tajik banking system wobbles as rumours grow of a collapse

MARCH 17 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — People in Tajikistan appear to be losing faith in their banking system, triggering a run on one of the country’s biggest banks.

This week crowds of around 100 people have been gathering at the head office of Tojiksodirotbank in Dushanbe, the only place the bank’s customers can withdraw money.

Nuriniso, a 30-year-old street-cleaner, was queuing to withdraw her salary. “Yesterday, I was at the bank until 9pm to get my money. They gave me 700 somoni (around $90) and told me to come another day for some more,” she told a Conway Bulletin correspondent.

An older woman standing next to Nuriniso explained.

“Don’t you understand that the bank is bankrupt?” she said of rumours fuelling what could, effectively be a run on the bank. “The bank will close from the first of April and money can only be withdrawn from other ATMs at 25% (commission).”

This is important for the entire Central Asia and South Caucasus region which has been hit by a worsening economic crisis. If withdrawals from Tojiksodirotbank did accelerate and it did become a run on the bank, it would be the first instance of an unplanned banking failure linked to the current economic downturn.

Tojiksodirotbank, which holds the majority of accounts for the country’s lower and middle classes such as doctors, teachers and government officials, has not commented on the queues forming outside their branches. Instead it said via its website that a technical problem was slowing down transactions.

And Tojiddin Pirzoda, the bank’s chairman has denied rumours of its impending bankruptcy. “Tojiksodirotbank holds a leading and a strong position in the banking system,” Tajik state news agency Khovar quoted him as saying in February.

But Nuriniso, the street cleaner who earns 640 somoni a month (around $80), said she had now lost confidence in Tajik banks.

“I will never keep my money in banks. My workplace has created this headache (by paying my salary into Tojiksodirotbank) ,” she said.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)