Author Archives: admin

Azerbaijan’s oil company cuts costs

MAY 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company SOCAR said it had closed three of its representative offices abroad, in an attempt to cut costs during a period of sustained low oil prices. Rovnag Abdullayev, SOCAR’s CEO said the company shut offices in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. Importantly, these are just the representative offices, the offices of SOCAR’s subsidiaries will remain open. SOCAR is one of Azerbaijan’s biggest brands. For it to close offices means that the government is feeling the pinch economically.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Armenia to receive arms from Russia

MAY 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hovik Abrahamyan, Armenia’s PM, said Russia had started delivering arms as part of a deal worth $200m. The arms deal was announced a few days after Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev met for the first time since fighting broke out between the two neighbours around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in April.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Tajikistan bans flag import

MAY 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikstandard, a government agency, proposed a ban on imports of Tajik flags made in Turkey or China. Abdukakhor Mavlonzoda, the head of Tajikstandard, told US-funded RFE/RL that foreign-made flags carry an important mistake in the way the crown at the centre of the flag is displayed. The ban could come in handy for the government’s nation building agenda.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Batumi’s other poorer and dislocated side

BATUMI/Georgia, MAY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — With its palm tree-lined boulevards, this city on the Black Sea coast is Georgia’s best known tourist destination.

It has boomed over the past decade and will soon host the world’s sixth largest hotel in the form of the 45-storey Twin Tower.

But there is a darker side.

On the outskirts of Batumi, several thousand people live in dilapidated barracks. Since October 2012, migrants and socially deprived people have been living in an abandoned Russian military base, now one of the biggest shantytowns in Georgia.

Its dwellers call it Ocnebis Kalaki. In English, this means Dream Town. It is a joke, a dark joke.

Water is available for only a few hours a day, there are frequent power cuts, gas is not provided and a rudimental sewage system increases the risk of infections and diseases.

Most of the families live in very small, poorly-built rooms. A family of eight share a two-room shack made out of wood, cement-asbestos, metal sheets and cardboard.

These people live on the fringe of Georgian society.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Georgia accuses Russia of killing man

MAY 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s government accused Russian soldiers patrolling along the border of the breakaway region of Abkhazia of shooting dead one of its citizens.

The foreign ministry issued a statement which said that Giga Otkhozoria, 31, had been shot six times while he had been on the Georgian side of the border.

“This criminal act once again demonstrates the highly alarming situation in the occupied region of Abkhazia, Georgia and the full responsibility for it lies with the Russian Federation as it is effectively in control of the region,” Georgia’s foreign ministry said.

Russia denied the allegations.

“The Georgian MFA used this case for its usual propaganda exercise,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have been improving since Mikheil Saakashvili lost power in Georgia in 2013. Under his presidency, Georgia had fought a brief war with Russia in August 2008 for control of South Ossetia.

Russia defeated Georgia and strengthened its military support to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Over the last three years, relations between Russia and Georgia have improved although border incidents expose the unease between the two neighbours.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Turkmenistan discusses TAPI financing

MAY 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Turkmen government said it has started negotiations with the Islamic Development Bank and other international financial institutions to open credit lines for funding the TAPI gas pipeline, which will pump gas to Pakistan and India through Afghanistan. Among potential backers, Turkmenistan has targeted Saudi Arabia and Japan. The pipeline, which will cost $10b and have a capacity of 33b cubic metres per year, is scheduled for completion in 2019.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Tajik university staff face salary problems

MAY 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Staff at the Kulob State University, in southern Tajikistan, said they are preparing a lawsuit against Tojiksodirotbonk (TSB), the country’s second largest lender, for failing to pay wages in Jan.-Feb. 2016. Tajikistan’s Central Bank placed TSB under a caretaker administration last week. Days after the teacher’s protest, TSB said it had resumed paying out salaries owed to its clients. The wages arrears is more evidence of the liquidity problem in Tajik banks.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Khadija Ismayilova: Investigative journalist

MAY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Beaming from ear to ear, Khadija Ismayilova blinked and smiled. It was Wednesday and Ms Ismayilova’s first taste of freedom after 537 days in prison for charges that she and her supporters have said were politically motivated.

In those 537 days, Ms Ismayilova has been transformed from a journalist known locally for her hard-hitting investigative reports that exposed corrupt schemes linked to President Ilham Aliyev to the international face of the fight for freedom of speech in Azerbaijan.

Her resilience and determination not to back down under intense pressure from the government and other dark forces, including a series of blackmail threats in 2012 linked to sex tapes made of her, won her many admirers in the West.

John McCain, a former US presidential candidate, was among the high- profile list of politicians from around the world who have been campaigning for Ms Ismayilova’s release.

After she was freed he said: “Khadija has played a critical role in uncovering government corruption and holding authorities accountable, and her commitment to freedom of the press and human rights serves as an inspiration for journalists everywhere.”

And this work has been recognised by a string of institutions who have given Ms Ismayilova various awards including the prestigious PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and the Anna Politkovskaya Award. Both these awards are for reporters who focus on anti-corruption issues and human rights.

And Ms Ismayilova, who turns 40 on May 27, has already said that she plans to continue her work, despite the dangers.

“Regarding my plans for journalism, I am going to continue my investigations,” she said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio

Liberty. “There is always a lot of work to do in a country like Azerbaijan where corruption is on such a massive scale.”

In Ms Ismayilova, President Aliyev and his cohort of supporters have found a dogged and determined anti-corruption opponent.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

EBRD to issue bond to Azerbaijan’s economy

MAY 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD is ready to issue a manat- denominated bond to help de-dollarise Azerbaijan’s economy, the Bank’s President, Sir Suma Chakra- barti, said. While the amount of the issue was not disclosed, Sir Suma said the bond will be sold within Azerbaijan to boost the local currency’s credibility.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Kazakh bank’s profits fell by 33%

MAY 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second- largest bank, said profits fell by 33% in Q1 2016, compared to 2015 due to a slowdown in lending. The bank said high interest rates at the beginning of the year had scared away consumers. Importantly, Halyk also said the proportion of bad loans in its portfolio increased to 11.7% from 9.1% in Q4 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)