FEB. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Pakistani firm Grange Power agreed a deal with Armenia over the construction of a 234 MW gas-fired power station near Vanadzor in northern Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank ordered all remittances sent from Russia to be paid out in the local somoni currency. The Central Bank said the move was designed to support the somoni. It has lost around a third of its value over the past few months. Remittances to Tajikistan, vital to the economy, are down. Russia is the main source of remittances.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
ALMATY, FEB. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — ArcelorMittal’s steel factory in Kazakhstan scrapped plans to raise workers’ salaries in June because of worries about continued weak market conditions for its products.
In January, ArcelorMittal increased salaries for its 14,000 workers at its steel plant in Temirtau, central Kazakhstan, by 6.8% and had promised another pay rise of 6.8% six months later, but in a letter to employees Vijay Mahadevan, the factory’s CEO, said that this was not now going to happen.
“Unfortunately, we have not fulfilled our plans for 2015, and therefore will not be able to pay the remainder of the wage increase this year,” he said.
“I know that this news will disappoint you, but no-one would benefit from a salary increase which will only put additional pressure on our company.”
A 50% drop in the value of the tenge and rise in inflation has hit workers’ real wages in Kazakhstan and forced many employers to raise salaries.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau is one of the biggest employers in Kazakhstan. It has had, though, tempestuous relations with its workers over salaries in the past few years and had to make thousands of staff redundant. The factory has added symbolic importance as President Nursultan Nazarbayev worked there before moving into politics.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Alik Aidarbayev, head of the Mangistau region of western Kazakhstan, said that only China has expressed serious interest in paying for the construction of a new oil refinery. The Mangistau region has been working on plans to build Kazakhstan’s fourth refinery for years. Mr Aidarbayev’s comments are important because they show both the financial power of China and the relative weakness of Russia. Kazakhstan has been looking to boost its refinery capacity for some time. It currently has three refineries.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – IMF representatives met with Tajik government officials in Dushanbe to draw up funding plans for the $2b Rogun hydropower plant. The IMF has said that the World Bank-backed Rogun project, strengthening its banking sector and diversifying the economy are priorities for Tajikistan. Down- stream Uzbekistan has lobbied hard against the Rogun dam.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank raised interest rates by 1 percentage point to 17%, its first monetary policy move for three months. The Kazakh tenge has been sliding in value and the Central Bank has at times appeared powerless to stop this. It has slowly increased interest rates but to limited effect.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tashkent’s state-owned bus company Toshshahartranshizmat has started to trial free wifi on its buses around the Uzbek capital, media reported, a signal of just how ubiquitous wifi has become in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan’s security forces closely monitor internet use. Uzbekistan is considered one of the most repressive countries in the world.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia and Armenia signed a defence deal that ministers said should improve training and strategic planning between the two countries. The deal, signed in Yerevan, is probably most important for Armenia which is still officially at war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani officials said that one of its soldiers had died during a shoot- out with Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. They also said that three Armenian soldiers had died in fighting, a claim that the Armenia backed government of the region denied. A cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia-backed fighters around Nagorno-Karabakh is looking increasingly fragile.
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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
FEB. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – National identity for the countries of Central Asia is still a major issue, far more so than for their neighbours in the South Caucasus.
When independence was thrust on the five Central Asian states in 1991, the leaders of these newly created countries had to build a sense of nation- hood from scratch.
And so they turned to their history books. They dug up some famous names from the past and wrote them up as national heroes and icons.
For Tajikistan, the most significant national hero was Ismail Somoni, the founder of the Samanid dynasty. Tajik officials have pinned their national story, the narrative that they use to give people a sense of nationhood, around the Samanid dynasty. A statue of Somoni dominates central Dushanbe and the national airline and currency are all named after him, as are a host of other institutions and buildings.
Branding is important, even for a country, and Pres. Emomali Rakhmon is probably right to pursue it. He has to make sure, though, that branding doesn’t distract from governing.
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(Editorial from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)
