Category Archives: Central Asia & South Caucasus News

Manas halts trading before announcing Kyrgyz acquisitions

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Australia-based Manas Resources said it halted trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as it prepares the announcement of new acquisition at its Kyrgyz operations. Manas is developing two gold mines in southern Kyrgyzstan. The trading halt is a precautionary measure adopted to avoid speculation over the company’s share price. Trading will resume on June 27, the company said.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Kyrgyzstan considers language test

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s National Migration Service said it is considering setting up a Kyrgyz language proficiency rule for foreign workers in the country, a move that is effectively aimed at reducing the number of Chinese foreign workers in the country. According to official sources, Chinese workers represent the vast majority of foreign workers in Kyrgyzstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Court convicts former head of Azerbaijan’s biggest bank of money laundering

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In one of the biggest corruption scandals in Azerbaijan, a court convicted Jahangir Hajiyev, former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), guilty of embezzlement and damages.

The government owns a 55% stake in the bank. A government spokesperson said Hajiyev, arrested in December, conducted illegal activity during his tenure as CEO of IBA, the largest bank in Azerbaijan.

“In 2001-2015 Jahangir Hajiyev entered into a criminal conspiracy with a group of persons and carried out a number of illegal actions of fraudulent nature,” a statement said.

Misappropriation, through fictitious loans, accounted for 41m manat ($31m), according to the ministry, which also calculated 212m manat ($139m) in damages. For a comparison, in the first half of 2015, the bank posted a loss of 216m manat.

Hajiyev left his post at IBA in March 2015, after a sharp devaluation of the manat against the US dollar, which put pressure on the bank’s loan portfolio.

The bank handles over 60% of the country’s loans.

The Prosecutor General said that Hajiyev’s wife, Zamira, is also on the wanted list.

She fled before police could arrest her. Her location is unknown.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Mine brawl leaves injured people in Kazakhstan

JUNE 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A brawl between private security guards and miners in Bestobe, a village 200km north-east of Astana, left as many as 16 people injured, highlighting a worsening labour dispute at the mine. Private security guards working for Kazakhaltyn, owned by Netherlands-based Institute Project, forcefully broke up a short-lived demonstration. Many of the miners said the incident echoed Zhanaozen, scene of violent clashes between police and oil workers that left at least 17 dead in 2011.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Kyrgyz PM changes government

JUNE 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov ordered changes to the ministerial structures of the government, establishing two new committees to take over responsibilities from the National Energy Holding, formerly the energy ministry, and the ministry of transport and communications). Mr Jeenbekov justified the changes as being needed to improve efficiency. His critics have said he is wasting money.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Skyland starts production in Tajikistan

JUNE 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Australia’s Skyland Petroleum said it started operations at its first well at the Kyzyl-Tumshuk oil and gas field in southern Tajikistan. Skyland has actively operated across Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Skyland said the Kyzyl Tumshuk project was started below budget and will be profitable despite low oil prices.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Kazakh government fines Kazzinc

JUNE 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh government slapped a 4.1b tenge ($12m) environmental fine on Kazzinc, a zinc producer, for damages caused by a leak of contaminated water into a river outside of Ridder, a town in eastern Kazakhstan.The leak was contained on May 25, three days after the spill. The prosecutor also opened a criminal case against the company for polluting water basins.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Georgia’s GDP rises

JUNE 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s GDP grew by 2.6% in Q1 2016, driven by an increase in mining and construction activity, the Georgian Statistics Committee, Geostat, said. Large infrastructure projects have boosted Georgia’s GDP growth, which is still below the government’s expectation of full-year growth of 3%.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

UMS boosts 4G in Uzbekistan

JUNE 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – UMS, a mobile company jointly owned by the Uzbek government and Russia’s MTS, said it had launched 4G services in Tashkent, upgrading the capital city’s data connectivity. Competitors Ucell, part-owned by Telia Company, and Beeline, a subsidiary of Russia’s Vimpelcom, have already launched 4G services.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Uzbekistan to launch tunnel

JUNE 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek government said it will launch the Angren-Pap railway service from July, opening the longest tunnel in Central Asia. The project, completed in the past few months, cost $1.6b and was partly funded by Chinese and World Bank loans. Uzbek President Islam Karimov and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping inaugurated the new tunnel during a ceremony in Tashkent.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)