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Georgia court convicts priest of attempted murder

TBILISI, SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A judge in Tbilisi convicted Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze of trying to murder the secretary of Patriarch Ilia II, a case that has grip the nation for the past eight months.
Mamaladze was arrested in February trying to board a flight to Berlin, where the Patriarch and his entourage were staying, carrying cyanide. Initially, it was thought the poison was meant for the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church but later it emerged that Mamaladze had intended to poison his secretary Shorena Tetruashvili because of a grudge he held. Ms Tetruashvili is the influential confident of the 84-year-old Patriarch.
Ilia II is one of the most powerful people in Georgia. He has been in this position since 1977.
The bearded and bespectacled Mamaladze has denied the charges and said that he will contest the verdict at the European Court of Human Rights. He chose not to be present in the court when the verdict was read out by the judge. There was no jury in this case. His lawyers stormed out, though, saying that the judge had been pressured into making this decision.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Armenia scraps visas for Japanese

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AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia lifted visa requirements for Japanese citizens, two years after Japan opened an embassy in Yerevan. Armenia has had an embassy in Tokyo since 2010. Previously, like EU citizens, Japanese citizens had to apply for a visa on arrival at an Armenian border.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Oil shipments through Georgia’s Batumi port fall

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SEPT. 1 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil shipments through the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi have fallen by a third this year, a port official told Reuters. The port is a major hub for the region’s economy and a large drop in oil shipments, most arrive on trains from Baku, could suggest a slowdown. The port is operated by Kazakh oil and gas company Kazmunaigas. In total, Batumi port processed 1.472m tonnes of crude and refined oil in the first eight months of the year, down from 2.227m tonnes.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Kazakhstan says next Syria peace talks scheduled for mid-Sept

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SEPT. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh officials said that a new round of peace talks in Astana aimed at ending violence in Syria was now scheduled for Sept 14/15. The talks, which feature Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Syrian government and Syrian rebels, had been due to begin in mid-August but were delayed. This is the sixth episode of the talks this year.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

THE BRIEFING: Kazakhstan opens nuclear fuel bank

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SEPT. 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> Kazakh President Nazarbayev opened a nuclear fuel bank this week. What is this and what does it mean?

>> A nuclear fuel bank is a secure building that holds low-enriched uranium that can be used to make power. The nuclear fuel bank that has just been opened by Nazarbayev is run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This means that it is different from others around the world as it is supposedly run by a neutral agency and not by single country.

>> Okay. But why is this important?

>> Nuclear power is a highly politicised form of energy. Nation states have their own agendas and the IAEA-controlled nuclear fuel bank is an attempt to reassure smaller nations that there is an independent supply of low–enriched uranium that they can access if they need to. The IAEA wants to promote nuclear power but it also wants to limit the number of countries that have the capability to enrich uranium. Low-enriched uranium can be used to produce electricity but high-enriched uranium can be used to produce weapons.

>> So what has Kazakhstan got to do with all this?

>> Nazarbayev wants to place Kazakhstan at the vanguard of a drive to make nuclear power around the world safer. He gave up an arsenal of nuclear weapons left over by the Soviet Union when it collapsed in 1991. Since then he has also encouraged Kazakhstan to become the world’s biggest producer of raw uranium. Offering Kazakhstan as a location for an IAEA-controlled nuclear fuel bank was a logical step for him. The fuel bank is located in the east of the country near to the USSR’s former nuclear test site.

>> Who paid for this and should we expect a queue of countries looking to access the low-enriched uranium held in the IAEA’s fuel bank?

>> US billionaire Warren Buffett put in $50 million, the US put up nearly $50 million, the EU around $29 million, Kuwait and the UAE $10m and Norway $5m. Kazakhstan paid in $400,000. It’ll take a year to fill with low-enriched uranium, there is nothing in it at the moment, but even when it is operating don’t expect a queue of countries looking to access it. It is considered a reserve of last resort if a country can’t buy low-enriched uranium on the market. It still has to pass various safety protocols, though. Other nuclear fuel banks, including one next door in Russia that opened in 2010 with IAEA backing, have never been used.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Kazakhstan keeps interest rates steady

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AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan kept its key interest rate at 5%, citing low inflation and strong economic growth. Central Asia is emerging from a period of low growth, pressured by sluggish Russian economic performance. The latest economic data adds to the generally improving picture. Only a year ago, central banks in the region were boosting interest rates in an effort to dampen inflation and prop up ailing currencies.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Tbilisi hosts world chess championships

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AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The world’s top chess players gathered in Tbilisi for the FIDE World Cup, which carries a $1.28m prize and qualifies the top two players for a tournament to decide who will take on champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway next year. FIDE is the World Chess Federation, currently headed by Kirsan Ilymuzhinov. The tournament will host 128 players.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

International Bank of Azerbaijan issues debt 3 months after default

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SEPT. 1 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s troubled IBA bank issued several new Eurobonds, the final part of a restructuring plan for $3.3b of debt that has angered its foreign creditors.

Reuters reported that IBA had issued a $1b Eurobond due in 2024 with a 3.5% coupon and that it had issued seven other new Eurobonds, due between December 2017 and September 2032, with an additional total value of $2.266b.

The reaction to the debt issue from foreign buyers was mixed with some welcoming IBA’s return to the market but others warning that there has been little structural changes in the Azerbaijani banking sector and that a repeat of the debt default was a real possibility.

In a statement, Khalid Ahadov, Chairman of IBA, said: “The successful closing of the restructuring process earlier today is a key step in the Bank’s plan to ensure its long-term viability.”

He also said that the bank planned to transfer bad assets to the state’s bad debt vehicle Aqrarkredit. “The combination of these two transactions will restore the Bank’s capital position, provide the Bank with the necessary financial strength to implement its business plan,” he said.

Traders in London told Reuters that demand for the IBA Eurobonds had been strong. In May, IBA had suddenly said that it was going to default on debt repayments. It pushed through a restructuring plan that effectively forced its creditors to take a 20% cut in their investments. At the time, debt holders said the restructuring plan had caused massive damage to Azerbaijan’s reputation as a place to invest.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Explosion kills three Kazakh coal miners

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ALMATY, AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — — A methane gas leak triggered an explosion at a mine in central Kazakhstan, killing three coal miners in the worst Kazakh mining accident since 2008 when 30 people died in a blast.

The Kazakhstanstkaya mine is located near the city of Karaganda and is reportedly owned by the steel works at nearby Timirtau. The steel factory is owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.

The reputation of ArcelorMittal’s factory has fallen over the last few years as it cut jobs. This was partly linked to a global economic downturn and partly a result of international sanctions on Iran, a core client.

The factory now employs around 12,000 workers, down from 15,000 only a few years ago. It had also tried to cut staff salaries, although this effort was rebuked.

Kazakhstan has a patchy record for coal mining safety. As well as the 2008 accident, a monorail accident last year also killed three miners at another coal mine owned by ArcelorMittal. In 2006, 41 miners in Kazakhstan died in a methane blast.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Georgian man killed fighting for IS in Syria

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AUG. 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian media reported that a 31-year-old man from the Pankisi Gorge has been killed fighting for IS in Syria. The Pankisi Gorge is a majority Muslim area of Georgia. At least 26 people from Georgia have died in Syria and Iraq since 2012.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)