MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state oil fund, SOFAZ, has investments worth $1.7b in foreign real estate deals, its press office told the Russian news agency Interfax. SOFAZ started investing in foreign property in 2012.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Central Bank printed its first 10,000 som banknote, an official nod, perhaps, to high levels of inflation and the falling value of its currency. At today’s official exchange rate of 3,453/$1, the new note will be worth just under $3. The Central Bank introduced the 5,000 som banknote in 2013 and the 1,000 som banknote in 2001. Uzbekistan’s economy has been under pressure, pushing up inflation and devaluing its currency. The som has fallen by 13% since August.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarusian service, former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev said that Vladimir Putin — then Russian PM, now its president — had telephoned him during a revolution in 2010 to persuade him to flee into exile in Belarus. Kyrgyzstan wants to extradite Mr Bakiyev, who now lives permanently in Belarus, to face various corruption charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s prosecutors said they are investigating archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze for planning to kill Shorena Tetruasvili, an aide to Patriarch Ilia II, when he was caught carrying cyanide as he boarded a plane in Tbilisi bound for Germany this year. Initially, prosecutors said archpriest Mamaladze had been planning to kill the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church as he rested in Germany after medical treatment.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan hosted its first meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, part of the system that runs the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), as it officially took over the rotating presidency of the trade bloc. Kyrgyzstan’s presidency of the EEU comes at a time when the organisation has become increasingly unpopular, especially in Kyrgyzstan, over sluggish economic growth rates. The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council is attended by PMs.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)f
MARCH 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After a meeting with two senior officials from Rio Tinto at a trade fair in Toronto, Kazakhstan’s deputy minister for investment development, Timur Toktabayev, said that the mining company planned a couple of significant investments in the country. The British-Australian company is one of the biggest miners in the world but doesn’t currently have any projects in Kazakhstan. If it did start work on a project in Kazakhstan, it would give the country a major PR boost.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Tajikistan are investigating the former mayor of Dushanbe, Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev, for corruption linked to the construction of a shopping centre, media reported. Mr Ubaidulloev had served as the mayor of Dushanbe for 20 years before, surprisingly, resigning in January. He was replaced by Rustam Emomali, the son of Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon. Analysts have said that before he quit as mayor of Dushanbe, Mr Ubaidulloev was considered the ultimate elite insider and that the corruption allegations are part of a power struggle.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Baiterek Travel Center, a government-linked tourist development company, plans to invest around $2.8m building a yurt camp resort in the Zhambyl region of southern Kazakhstan, the Interfax news agency reported by quoting a source at the regional chamber of entrepreneurs. Kazakhstan has been looking to boost tourism numbers. Since 2014 it has scrapped visa requirements for visitors from dozens of Western countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second largest bank by assets, said its net income in 2016 was 9.2% higher than in 2015 at 131.2b tenge ($412m). Importantly, its Q4 net income was 32% higher in 2016 than the same period in 2015 and the proportion of loans considered to be bad, those more than 90 days overdue, had dropped to 10.2% by Dec. 31, from 11.5 % on Sept. 30. The data suggested that the economic downturn that has hit Kazakhstan is lifting. Last week, Halyk Bank confirmed it would merge with Kazkommertsbank.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
MARCH 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry confirmed that Astana would host another round of talks aimed at ending a civil war in Syria on March 14/15. This is the third round of talks in Astana this year, lead by Russia, Iran and Turkey. Delegates representing both Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Syrian rebels are expected to attend. The US has only previously participated as an observer.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
