Author Archives: admin

China invests in Kazakhstan’s agribusiness

JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — China’s COFCO and Rifa Holding Group were part of a group of Chinese companies to sign a $1.7b investment deal in Kazakhstan’s agribusiness, Gulmira Isayeva the Kazakh deputy minister of agriculture said. Twelve of the 19 projects will focus on the Almaty region. The projects will focus on processing animal and vegetable products for export to China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Spanish parliamentarian describes Georgian political prisoner

JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a speech at his swearing-in ceremony as the new president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pedro Agramunt, a Spanish parliamentarian, described Gigi Ugulava, the former mayor of Tbilisi, as a “political prisoner”. The description will irritate the current Georgian government. Ugulava was imprisoned in 2015 for 4-1/2 years for misspending public money, charges he has said are politically motivated.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Azerbaijan’s electricity exports halve

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s customs agency said electricity exports had halved in 2015 compared to the previous year. Azerbaijan exported 276.8m kWh of electricity in 2015 against 588.3m kWh in 2014. Demand for electricity in Azerbaijan has soared, forcing it to divert exports for domestic consumption.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Heli-Skiing expands in Georgia

JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Austrian company Wucher Helikopter said it applied to the government of Georgia for permission to open a heli-skiing business near the Gudauri ski resort, 30km south of the border with Russia. Wucher Helikopter has worked in the Gudauri-Stepantsminda area since 2013. Its expansion would be a boon to Georgia’s winter tourism.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Azerbaijan cuts defence spending

JAN. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has cut its defence spending by 40%, IHS Jane’s Defence reported, part of its efforts to slash government costs as revenues falter in the worsening economic climate. Jane’s said that Azerbaijani government documents had shown that it had cut the so called Special Projects part of the defence budget which it estimated ran to 40% of its total budget.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Uzbek authorities urge anti-IS propaganda

JAN. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan are forcing parents of men and women who have fled Uzbekistan to join the radical IS group in Syria and Iraq apologise for their sons and daughters on state television, the eurasianet.org website reported. The footage of sobbing, elderly parents is supposed to encourage others to monitor their children more closely. Central Asian governments are increasingly worried about IS recruitment from the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Azerbaijan’s Central Bank reserves collapse

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The reserves of Azerbaijan’s Central Bank fell by 60% in 2015 to $5b, it said, highlighting just how much cash it had burned through trying to prop up its ailing manat currency. The Central Bank was forced to devalue the manat twice last year as oil prices stayed stubbornly low. The manat is now worth around 50% of its value of a year ago.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Kyrgyz hydropower station operates at full

JAN. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev told parliament that the Toktogul hydropower station was now operating at full capacity after an outage just before Christmas knocked out a couple of the power generating units , media reported. Toktogul is Kyrgyzstan’s biggest hydropower station and its breakdown forced Kyrgyzstan to buy electricity from neighbouring Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Inver House looks to grow in Kazakhstan

JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Scottish distiller Inver House, which produces a range of alcoholic drinks from whisky to gin to beer, said it would target Kazakhstan, among other countries, after a 20% increase in production following a £10m ($14.3m) investment in its manufacturing site in Scotland.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Kazakh currency rate rise

JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank increased interest rates on tenge held bank deposits by four percentage points to 14% in an attempt to defend the value of its currency. The Central Bank has maintained different interest rates on tenge and US dollar deposits for several years. US dollar deposits now earn interest of 2%, down from 3%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)