APRIL 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Nationals from another 16 countries will be able to travel to Kazakhstan without a visa from July, media reported quoting Gulnar Kurbanbayeva, deputy head of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs. Ms Kurbanbayeva also said visa-free travel for 10 top investment countries would be extended.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a snub to the Georgian Prosecutor-General, Interpol removed a wanted notice on former justice minister Zurab Adeishvili. The EU and the US have said the Georgia legislation targets governing Georgian Dream coalition is using legal mechanisms to go after officials linked to former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Turkmenistan plan on banning households from owning satellite dishes in an effort to block access to stations critical of its government, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). RFE/RL said that it was the government’s main target.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Central Asia and South Caucasus region will host its first Formula 1 Grand Prix next year in Baku.
Formula One boss Bernie Eccelstone gave the greenlight for Baku to host a Grand Prix despite lobbying from human rights and media groups who accuse the authorities in Azerbaijan of cracking down on civil liberties.
“Baku? No problem. That’s going to be another good race,” Mr Ecclestone told reporters ahead of the Grand Prix in Bahrain.
Formula One signed a deal with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev last year to host a Grand Prix, but without Mr Ecclestone’s support the race wouldn’t have gone ahead.
On the human rights issue, he said that Formula One had done their checks. “I think everybody seems to be happy,” he said. “Doesn’t seem to be any big problem there.”
Human rights groups, the United States and the European Union may disagree — they have all heavily criticised Azerbaijan for locking up activists — but Mr Ecclestone’s comments will be a vindication for Mr Aliyev.
Mr Aliyev has sort to promote Azerbaijan through sport. Later this year, Baku will host the first European Games, it sponsors the shirts of major football teams and will host matches at UEFA’s Euro 2020 tournament.
But Formula One is another level up. It is one of the most watched sports in the world and is certainly one of the most glamorous and now it will act as a prism for viewers to discover Baku when they watch Formula 1 race through its streets in 2016.
It will be the second Grand Prix held in the former Soviet Union. Last year, Russia hosted a Grand Prix at Sochi.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A delegation from the Azerbaijani national railway company travelled to Ashgabat for talks with its Turkmen counterparts on developing a transport corridor, media reported. Turkmenistan wants to boost trade with Europe.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande are among the foreign dignitaries due to fly to Yerevan on April 23, the day before the 100th anniversary of the killings of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank ordered currency exchange points throughout the country to be closed to try and protect its somoni currency losing more value. The somoni is under pressure as remittances from Russia dry up. It has lost 15% of its value this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia has delivered four Su-30SM fighter jets to Kazakhstan, media reported, part of a major overhaul of the Kazakh air force. By 2020, reports said, Kazakhstan is planning on buying another 32 fighter jets from Russia. Kazakhstan has spent billions upgrading its military.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The latest polling by the International Republican Institute (IRI), makes uneasy reading for the Georgian Dream coalition.
The poll, released in late March, shows support for Georgian Dream dropping to 35%. This is bad news for Georgian Dream, but so is the story told by the other numbers: 14% of likely voters say they support the United National Movement (UNM) of ex-president Saakashvili, 12% say they support nobody, and 11% refused to answer.
If these numbers look familiar to Georgian Dream politicians, it’s because they are disturbingly similar to a poll taken in summer 2012 by IRI’s sister organization, the National Democratic Institute (NDI). That poll, now infamous in Georgian political history, was the last taken before Georgian Dream swept to victory in November 2012, and everybody interpreted it all wrong.
In summer 2012, 37% said they’d vote for the incumbent UNM, while 12% responded Georgian Dream. When Georgian Dream went on to win almost 60% on the day pollsters were flummoxed, and many uncharitably said NDI were in cahoots with the UNM. In fact, that poll revealed much more about Georgian’s voting habits than anyone expected. 22% of respondents said they did not know who to vote for, and 21% refused to answer. Fear, embarrassment and a mistrust of polling organizations had led 43% of Georgians to keep their opinions to themselves. On the election day, this 43% gave their votes to Georgian Dream and surprised everyone by precipitating Georgia’s first peaceful transfer of power.
The same thing is happening in reverse in the latest IRI poll. The UNM scored over 20% in elections in 2013 and 2014, and today’s sluggish economy and devalued lari mean more people now miss the Saakashvili era.
If the 23% of respondents who refused to answer or said they support no one are really hidden UNM voters, it would take UNM support up to 37%, about the same as Georgian Dream.
There is a long way to go before the next parliamentary elections in 2016, but if the polls are to be believed, and if you know how to read them, it is shaping up tobea closer race than many would like to believe.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
APRIL 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s oil exports in Q1 2015 increased by 3.7% from a year earlier, a source at the state statistics committee told Reuters. The source said a rise in output at the BP-operated Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) oilfields had driven the overall rise. BP has been under pressure to stem a drop in output at ACG.
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(News report from Issue No. 228, published on April 22 2015)
