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Kazakhstan to solve trade row with Ukraine

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Asset Asavbayev, director of transport at Kazakhstan’s ministry of industrial development, said Kazakhstan will step in to resolve a row between Russia and Ukraine that has stalled Ukrainian cargo in transit to Central Asia via Russian territory. On July 1, Russian border police enforced a transit ban for Ukrainian goods, citing a Eurasian Economic Union regulation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Tajikistan publishes negative forecasts for Somoni currency

JULY 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s finance ministry published a negative forecast for the somoni currency exchange rate over the next few years, saying that the economic crisis that has hit the region since mid-2014 could be far from over. According to the official forecast, the somoni will weaken against the US dollar by 21% next year and by a further 8% in 2018. This week the official exchange rate was 7.9/$1. Much like other currencies in the region, the Tajik somoni has lost a third of its value sine mid-2014, mainly because of a recession in Russia, weakness in oil and gas prices and a drop in confidence in Emerging Markets.

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(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Tajik President appoints new FinMin

JULY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon appointed former deputy Central Banker Umed Latifov to the post of finance minister, replacing Shavkat Sokhibov. Tajikistan’s economy has suffered from a regional economic downturn which has dried up worker remittances from abroad. US-educated Mr Latifov is much younger than his predecessor and has an international profile. His appointment at the Central Bank in May 2015 was his first job in Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s GDP falls by 2.3%

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s GDP fell by 2.3% in the first six months of the year because of lower gold prices. The Statistics Committee said that without accounting for the performance of the Kumtor gold mine, the country’s non-gold GDP grew by 1.2% compared to the same period last year. Higher gold prices since mid-June could now push up the country’s GDP.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Kazakh court jails IS group

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Aktobe, northern Kazakhstan, sentenced 12 people who had allegedly tried to join the ranks of the extremist IS group in February. The suspects received sentences of between 6 and 8 years in prison. The court said the group had tried to travel to Syria to join an IS training camp. Kazakhstan’s government has repeatedly emphasised its efforts towards combating Islamic extremism.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

EBRD loans $100m to Georgia’s telecom

JULY 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD said it had loaned $100m to MagtiCom, Georgia’s largest telecoms operator, to buy Caucasus Online, a Georgian internet service provider that also works in Armenia and Azerbaijan. MagtiCom, whose main shareholders are two American telecoms companies, has almost 2m subscribers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Gazprom drills gas well in Tajikistan

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian gas company Gazprom said it drilled a second well at its Sarikamysh gas and condensate field in western Tajikistan, eight years after winning the licence. In 2013, Gazprom drilled at Sarikamysh the deepest well in Central Asia at 6,540m. Murod Jumazoda, head of the government’s Geology Department, said the project is still some way off producing gas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Uzbek ministers meet in Astana

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — With the exception of Turkmenistan, foreign ministers of the Caspian Sea littoral states met in Astana to continue drafting a resolution which should resolve ongoing disputes over the legal status of the Caspian. Kazakh PM Karim Massimov also attended. The ministers said the convention will be signed at a heads of state meeting next year in Astana.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Car sales drop in Uzbekistan

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — US-Uzbek joint venture GM Uzbekistan sold 34.5% fewer cars in the Russian market in June 2016, compared to the same month last year, a sign of continued market weakness and possibly of rumoured management problems. GM Uzbekistan’s exports to Russia are down 17% in H1 2016, compared to a drop of 14% for total car sales in Russia. This year, GM Uzbekistan’s director was arrested for allegedly creating an illegal sale scheme for cars earmarked for export.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Armenia signs clear stream deal

JULY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Central Depository of Armenia, the stock exchange’s securities market unit, signed a deal with debt trading house Clearstream, which is based in Luxembourg but is owned by the German Stock Exchange, which it said would boost transparency and reliability in the Armenian bond market. Clearstream made a similar agreement with Georgia in January. Armenia has become Clearstream’s 56th international partnership.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)