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Kyrgyz nation-building film aims for Oscars

SEPT. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On Independence Day, people in Bishkek crammed into cinemas to watch a film geared towards nation-building.

The film’s organisers think the film has a shot at the Best Foreign Film Category at the Oscars. Kurmandjan Datka, Queen of the Mountains received $1.5m from the threadbare republican budget and was part-organised by nationalist MP, Zhyldyz Zholdosheva.

The Kyrgyz-language picture, telling the story of a female clan ruler during the time of the Russian empire, was generally well received, although one viewer, 21-year old Maxat Dukenbayev, said it was some way short of Nomad, a Kazakh state-made epic with 25 times Kurmanjan Datka’s budget and featuring B-List Hollywood actors.

“That didn’t come close to an Oscar,” he said, standing outside Bishkek’s October Cinema.

Not that Nomad did either.

Still, Zholdosheva, who gained a reputation as an outspoken nationalist in the aftermath of ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in 2010 declared herself ready to win an Oscar.

Elsewhere, on a grassy stretch outside Bishkek’s Panfilov Park, scores of Kyrgyz families grilled skewered kebabs and took in national beer.

Kyrgyz films celebrating its independence, seemingly, are not for everyone.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Petrol supplies fall in Uzbekistan

AUG. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Petrol stations across Uzbekistan are closing because of a lack of fuel supplies, media reported. Media has been reporting for some time that fuel supplies in Uzbekistan have been low. The government has also said that it is no longer able to subsidise petrol causing prices to rise, especially around Tashkent.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Economy slides in Armenia

SEPT. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s economy grew by only 2.3% in the second quarter of this year compared to a year earlier, the national statistics agency reported.

The low growth underscores concerns about the Armenian economy. In August, the Central Bank cut its full year growth forecast to between 3.6% and 4.2% from 4.1% and 4.8% because of the impact of sanctions on Russia’s economy. The health of the Russian economy is vital to Armenia.

Other international economic organisations have followed and warned that economic growth in 2014 will be lower than growth in 2013.

This is, of course, worrying for Armenian officials who are looking to boost the economy. The danger for Armenia is that it’s trapped in having to follow Russia.

Armenia is surrounded by enemies, mainly Turkey and Azerbaijan, and looks to Russia for support but with the Russian economy increasingly fragile because of sanctions this is dangerous.

And Armenia appears destined to join the Russia-led Customs Union later this year. These are definitely difficult times for Armenia’s policymakers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

TI having funding problems in Azerbaijan

AUG. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Anti-corruption lobby group Transparency International (TI) said it is having problems receiving funding from USAID, the US government aid agency, through an Azerbaijani bank, media reported. TI has been critical of corruption in Azerbaijan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Uzbekistan wants migrants to return

SEPT 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Regions across Uzbekistan have started work on a government edict to try and lure the thousands of Uzbeks working abroad back home, even though the economy is looking decidedly dodgy and the chances of full time employment are low.

Uznews.net, an Uzbek opposition website, reported that Samarkand, the second largest city in the country, has proposed all migrants who return will get given a job.

“I witnessed people like myself being forced to live a nomadic life in dirty conditions, without rights in a foreign land,” the website reported one Samarkand resident as saying in a propaganda drive.

“If we were to work as hard at home as we work in Russia, we would make good money.”

The drive to persuade migrants to return to Uzbekistan apparently came in July from Uzbek PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

It also coincided with news that Russia was going to make it more difficult for migrants to enter and also that the sanctions imposed on Russia since fighting in Ukraine started has reduced demand for casual migrant workers. This may have dampened demand for migrants from Central Asia who would typically do the cleaning and building jobs around Moscow and other large Russian cities.

Even so, Uzbekistan relies heavily on remittances from workers based in Russia and working on a campaign to encourage them back home is likely to be counter- productive.

Uzbekistan has plenty of infrastructure of its own to deal with, including crumbling road, rail and power networks, so, possibly, calling on more people to move back to Uzbekistan is counter productive.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Georgian parliament moves to Tbilisi

SEPT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Less than two years after the government of Mikheil Saakashvili moved Georgia’s parliament from the centre of Tbilisi to a new-built glass dome in Kutaisi, 225km away, it is moving back. Parliament held its first session after the summer recess in Tbilis. The two parliaments will now split meetings.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Inflation climbs in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Kazakhstan edged up to 7.1% for the year to end-August, the top of the Central Bank’s bandwidth. The Central Bank aims to keep inflation between 6% and 8%. Central Asia’s economies have been under pressure from the sanctions on Russia. Inflation increased by 0.4% in August.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Uzbek President dances

SEPT.1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps to prove his virility and good health, Uzbek president Islam Karimov danced with various other officials in public on Independence Day. The 76-year-old Mr Karimov has been the centre of much speculation over his health during the last few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Yezedis rally in Armenia

AUG. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Members of Armenia’s Yezedi community have been holding protests in Yerevan calling for more support to stop the attacks by them in Iraq. Armenia is home to around 50,000 Yezedi, one of the largest groups outside Iraq. Fighters from the Islamic State have been attacking and killing Yezedi members.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)

Azerbaijan’s real estate boom

AUG. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Along with Azerbaijan’s economy its real estate market is growing in size and maturity.

Media reports quoted figures released by the Central Bank saying that turnover in the real estate sector had grown by nearly 30% in the first six months of the year compared to the same time last year.

These figures are important, and they generally follow a trend across all the macro-economic data in Azerbaijan, but there is also more to the story.

In an interview with the abc.az news website, Yalchin Osmanov, a real estate manager in Baku, explained how the market was maturing.

“Previously, the market was more chaotic, as far as the prices are concerned,” he said. “Now the prices are distinctly graded by real estate location, quality of buildings and many other factors.”

So, the market is more organised with more transparent prices, but what about the buyers?

Mr Osmanov, again, explained.

“Previously people preferred to purchase real estate by cash, now most people rely on long-term credit or purchase in instalments with an initial contribution and subsequent monthly payments,” he said.

Again, this correlates with a general rise in consumer borrowing in Azerbaijan. The main risk to the economy from the real estate sector is unchecked or poorly planned consumer borrowing. International analysts have already warned Azerbaijan that is needs to rein this in.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)