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Parliament votes to weaken interior ministry

JULY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – TBILISI – Georgia’s parliament voted 78-0 in favour of stripping control of the country’s security and intelligence agencies from the ministry of interior.

Under the reforms the interior ministry will retain control of policing in Georgia and the border guards, although its overall power will be much reduced.

The current interior ministry structure was created by former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. He pooled counterintelligence operations and border control with other law enforcement units under the interior ministry. Mr Saakashvili argued this system was more efficient. His opponents said accountability was reduced.

Nino Dolidze, a university professor at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, explained.

“Together with the ministry of justice, it was the flagship of all Saakashvili’s reforms,” she told The Bulletin. “But it also became the place where his success started to melt and decrease.”

One of the main promises of the Georgian Dream coalition during 2012 parliamentary elections was to break down this concentration of power.

From Aug. 1 a new State Security Service will take over counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, anti-corruption, surveillance and other special operations responsibilities. The head of the State Security Service will be selected by the government and approved by parliament for a single six-year term.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Kazakh market still buys Rolls Royce

JULY 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – More people in Kazakhstan have pre-ordered the new $294,000 Bentley car from Rolls Royce than in Russia, Bloomberg News quoted Peter Schwarzenbauer, a BMW director, as saying. BMW owns Rolls Royce. This is anecdotal evidence that the Kazakh luxury market is still strong.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Turkmenistan imports trucks

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Only around 5,000 trucks with Turkish produce travel to Turkmenistan each year through the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea because crossing Azerbaijan is too expensive, the head of the Turkish International Road Carriers Association, Fatih Sener, told local media. Around 50,000 trucks travel via Iran.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Azerbaijan bans Russian singer from visiting the country

JULY 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan said it had added Russian opera singer Lyubov Kazarnovskaya to the list of people barred from visiting the country because she had recently travelled to the disputed region of Nagorno- Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Uzbekistan-based factory suffers in economic downturn

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – GM Uzbekistan, a joint venture between the Uzbek government and US carmaker GM, sold 10,357 cars in Russia in the first half of this year, media reported quoting the company.

This is 57% less than in 2014 and highlights the economic problems rebounding around Central Asia linked to the decline in Russia’s economy.

Russia is one of GM Uzbekistan’s biggest market, so for it to drop away so seriously is bad news for the company.

GM Uzbekistan is based near the city of Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan.

In 2010, GM Uzbekistan employed 5,000 people. If demand for its cars, and it mainly produces mid-range Chevrolet cars at this plant, falls away significantly then these jobs may be under threat.

The drop in car sales is symptomatic of a general decline in economic conditions around the Central Asia region.

As well as a drop in exports to Russia, remittance flows back to Central Asia from workers in Moscow and beyond have dropped across the region by around 40%. Currencies have also dropped in value by around a third.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Kyrgyzstan starts campaign to buy local products

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ahead of its accession to the Eurasian Economic Union later this year, domestic producers in Kyrgyzstan have started a campaign to try and persuade more people to buy locally made products, the 24.kg news agency reported.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Construction workers die in Georgian capital

JULY 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Four construction workers in Tbilisi died when part of a building they were demolishing fell on them, media reported. The former Institute for Physics and Mathematics was being demolished to make way for a hotel. The accident highlights Georgia’s poor construction safety record.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Uzbek authorities arrest 500 police

JULY 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan arrested 500 police last year on various charges including corruption, torture and abuse of power, media reported quoting a source in the interior ministry. Rights groups have accused Uzbekistan of being a police state.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

30% of Kyrgyz people live in poverty

JULY 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 30% of the Kyrgyz population live in poverty, media quoted the National Statistics agency as saying. People are considered living in poverty if they survive on less than $45/day. Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries in the world.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)

Kazakh government pressures oil company

JULY 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Max Petroleum, a London-listed oil company operating in Kazakhstan said that it was operating under severe financial stress because of a back-tax bill imposed by the Kazakh government. Earlier this year, Max Petroleum said the drop in oil prices was pressuring its finances.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 239, published on July 9 2015)