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Kazakh villagers attack Tajiks

>>Clashes breakout after Tajik is accused of murder>>

FEB. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — A group of Kazakhs attacked Tajik homes in a village near Kazakhstan’s border with Uzbekistan.

The police had earlier accused Navmidin Narmetov, a Tajik, of killing Bakytzhan Artykov, a Kazakh in the village of Bostandyk, 150km south of the regional capital, Shymkent.

Friends and family members of the victim converged on the Tajiks’ homes, burning cars, attacking the Tajik-language school and shouting: “Go home!”.

A state of emergency was briefly proclaimed by the ministry of interior. In the southern region, internet connections and cell phone reception were frozen for days after the attacks. Online news reports, both in Russian and in English were censored across the country.

The alleged murderer was caught in Uzbekistan.

Inter-ethnic harmony is a particularly sensitive issue in Kazakhstan. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has often spoken on the topic and in 2011, rioting oil workers in west Kazakhstan clashed with police. Several people died triggering the most serious crisis of Mr Nazarbayev’s presidency.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

S&P downgrades SOCAR

FEB. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR to a negative outlook from stable because of the decline in global energy prices, Reuters reported. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Azerbaijan’s sovereign rating last month.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Kazakh orders new fighter planes

FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will buy several Russian-made Sukhoi SU-30SM fighter jets to rebuild its Soviet-era air force, media reported quoting the commander of the Kazakh Air Force Major General Nurlan Ormanbetov. The order highlights Kazakhstan close links with Russia and also its determination to re-build its military.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Armenia passes business law

FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite protests, Armenia’s parliament passed a law that will reduce tax imposed on small businesses to 1% of sales from 3.5%. The proposed law has angered businesses because it will mean that they have to provide more paperwork. Armenian PM Armen Rustamyan said the law would be introduced in July, a delay of six months.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Pavlodar warns of Russian imports

>>Rouble devaluation makes Russian goods cheap>>

FEB. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Local authorities in Kazakhstan said they are worried about cheap goods from Russia flooding its northern markets. The rouble has halved in value, making goods from Russia cheap for Kazakhstanis.

Duisenbai Turganov, vice-governor of the Pavlodar province, directed his concerns to Kazakh deputy PM, Bakhytzhan Sagintayev.

He said Russian goods flooding the Kazakh market could be classified as a dumping practice.

“Prices of Russian competitors are 30-60% lower than Kazakh suppliers can offer. This has a negative impact on the activities of the local industrial enterprises,” the tengrinews.kz website quoted him as saying.

The row piles more pressure on to the Eurasian Economic Union which has become tainted by commercial wars among the members. Belarus and Armenia are also members.

And we’ve seen this issue before. Since December, Kazakhs are crossing the border to buy cheap goods in Russia. Although quantities may be risible for Moscow, on the other side of the fence, buying Russian goods makes a difference for Kazakhs.

From cars, to poultry, to petroleum products, the large-scale entry of cheap goods from the north into Kazakhstan creates an imbalance in the Kazakh economy and puts local factories under stress.

The governor in Pavlodar may be talking peanuts to Russia, but these are vital components of the socio-economic makeup of the northern regions of Kazakhstan.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Kazakh military exercises with the US

FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite an antagonistic stand-off between Washington and the Kremlin over the civil war in Ukraine, media reported that Kazakhstan has organised a military exercise with the US. The US has held military exercises with Kazakhstan for several years. Kazakhstan is also a close ally of Russia.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Kyrgyzstan and the EEU

FEB. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Viktor Khristenko, chairman of the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union, said the final barriers to Kyrgyzstan’s entry to the group had been removed. He was talking to press after a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union. Kyrgyzstan aims to join the EEU, which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, later this year.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Kyrgyz police arrest extremists

FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Kyrgyzstan said they had arrested several members of the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir in a number of coordinated raids across the country, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Kyrgyzstan is increasingly worried about Islamic extremists’ recruitment drive in the country.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Armenia raises interest rates, again

>>Inflation and Russian rouble devaluation are pressuring Armenian Central Bank>>

FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank increased its key interest rate to 10.5% from 9.5%, the third rate rise since December, because of rising inflation.

Data from the Central Bank showed that annualised inflation hit 4.3% in January which is at the top end of the government’s target range.

Central Banks across Central Asia and the South Caucasus have steadily been increasing interest rates to keep pace with Russian monetary moves. Russia is trying to defend its currency against both falling oil prices and the impact of sanctions.

Armenia’s economy is particularly tied into Russia’s economy. At the beginning of the year, Armenia also joined the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union which many see as a Moscow inspired political union.

Inflation in Russia has hit around 12% and is still rising. Economists said this would undoubtedly push the price of goods in Armenia up too.

Before the Central Bank raised interest rates in December, the Armenia’s interest rate had stood at 6.75%.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Kazakh gold/FX reserves increase

FEB. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s net gold and foreign currency reserves increased to $28.2b in January from $28b in December and $24b from a year earlier, highlighting its ability to fight downward pressure on its tenge currency. Kazakhs worry about another devaluation.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)