OCT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed a raft of economic reforms that paved the way for its accession into the Russia-led Customs Union. Kyrgyzstan wants to join the Customs Union by the end of this year. The Customs Union will morph into the Eurasian Economic Union at the start of 2015.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Vienna found two former senior members of the Austrian Central Bank’s banknote-printing unit guilty of giving Azerbaijani and Syrian officials kickbacks for contracts.
The verdict confirms that corruption is rampant through even the most senior levels of Azerbaijan.
The two former directors, Johannes Miller and Michael Wolf, each received a two year suspended sentence for their part in a conspiracy to pay around $17.5m over six years to Azerbaijani and Syrian officials in exchange for contracts to print the national currency.
According to a Bloomberg report, the two directors had been ordered to find new business around 2005. They drummed up interest from Azerbaijan but only won the contract to print the Central Bank notes after promising to add an extra 20% kickback to senior officials to be paid through offshore companies.
Azerbaijani officials have previously denied taking bribes from the Austrian Central Bank. Now, though, denying the kickbacks appears all but impossible.
As well as a recent crackdown on human rights and opposition figures, Azerbaijan’s international image is scarred by allegations of major corruption.
Evidence in an Austrian court that business would only be done in Azerbaijan by agreeing kickbacks of 20% is likely to harden this image.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s government approved a draft treaty for joining the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, media reported.
The treaty should be signed by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus at the end of summit this week in Minsk, paving the way for Armenia to join the group by the end of the year.
This is a critical moment in modern Armenian history. Armenia has been pulling away from the EU. By making the final jump into the Eurasian Economic Union, or Customs Union as it is currently known, Armenia will be confirming its pro-Russia allegiance.
The Eurasian Economic Union is mainly an economic union although it brings with it a more pro-Russia general alliance. And with Russia’s involvement in Ukraine that is, currently, a controversial stance.
But Armenia sees itself as having few options. It is surrounded by enemies and needs Russian support to bolster both its economy and military.
Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Russian parliament’s committee on Eurasian integration, was candid in on the merits of an enlarged Eurasian Economic Union.
“The Eurasian Economic Union will be a powerful regional economic union, which will inevitably expand,” he said according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. “Apart from completely new regional economic architecture, the EEU will certainly become a powerful barrier on the way of those who are today trying to build unipolar world.”
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Air Armenia has denied rumours that it is facing bankruptcy, media reported. Instead, Air Armenia explained a handful of recent flight cancellations as being linked to technical problems with the aircraft. Air Armenia is a privately owned company mainly flying to Russia. It only started passenger flights last year.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s inaugural Formula 1 race in 2016 will take place through the streets of Baku, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said.The race is controversial because of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on human rights. For Azerbaijan, though, it represents a great PR coup.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik security forces donned full riot gear for a training exercise in central Dushanbe aimed at dealing with large anti-government crowds.The exercise was designed as a show of force against any anti-government movement that may be planning protests ahead of a parliamentary election in February.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Access to various social media and news websites in Tajikistan was blocked, media and sources reported. The government has not officially said that it blocked the websites. It has previously blocked access to facebook and other sites, though, to prevent opposition groups from rallying support.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh government has backed a plan to expand the Tengizchevroil oil project in the west of the country despite cost estimates running higher than expected, Reuters reported. Tengizchevroil, led by Chevron, is one of Kazakhstan’s most successful oil projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik opposition groups based abroad are preparing to challenge the political order built up by strongman President Emomali Rakhmon head of the otherwise predictable parliamentary elections set for Feb. 14.
Against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine and the stand-off on the streets of Hong Kong, exiled Tajik politicians have been making calls for the overthrow of Mr Rakhmon via the Internet.
One group, Gruppa 24, is promoting a demonstration against the regime on Oct. 10 on the main square in Dushanbe. The government has responded to the threat by shutting down Facebook and other websites where the the group issued calls to protest.
More menacingly, the country’s services held a bizarre simulation of a protest being put down by riot police.
Having experienced civil war in the 1990s, appetite for revolution among Tajiks is weak, and Gruppa 24’s Turkey- based leader, Umrali Quvvatov lacks the political influence in Tajikistan to pull off a coup. Nevertheless, the government’s response to the calls betrays fear, and Mr Quvvatov told the Conway Bulletin via Skype he expects a strong turnout at the protest.
“Tajiks have given up too much for this criminal regime. If the government responds to our meeting with force we will do the same. We are preparing for war,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
OCT. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – France is investigating alleged kickbacks during deals between French and Kazakh companies four years ago, the AFP news agency reported quoting a judge on condition of anonymity. The judge said the case was opened in March 2013 and that three people have been charged. The case will be an embarrassment to Kazakhstan.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
