Category Archives: Central Asia & South Caucasus News

Kazakh police arrest ex-economy minister

ALMATY, JAN. 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Kazakhstan arrested the former economy minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, for alleged links to a corruption scheme at the country’s state-owned Baiterek holding company.

Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked Mr Bishimbayev, 36, as economy minister on Dec. 28.

He had only been in the job since May. for the previous three years he had been chairman of Baiterek holding company which administers the state’s shareholdings in various companies.

Several senior executives at Baiterek have been arrested over the past few weeks on bribe-taking allegations. The main focus is Baiterek Development, the holding company’s real estate unit.

Kazakhstan has been hit by several high-profile corruption scandals in the past year.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Kazakhstan’s Mangistaumunaigas to keep output steady

JAN. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mangistaumunaigas, the troubled state-owned oil producer near Zhanaozen in the west of Kazakhstan, will maintain its oil output at around 6.3m tonnes in 2017, media reported quoting CEO Bakyt Imanbaev. Mangistaumunaigas runs at a loss but the government has committed to keeping it open and maintaining jobs to avoid a repeat of the strikes in 2011 that triggered riots and the shooting dead of at least 15 protesters by police sent into quell the violence.

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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)

Tax pushes up inflation in Georgia

JAN. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s state statistics committee said that annualised inflation in Georgia measured 1.8% in December, a sharp increase from 0.2% measured in November. This increase was expected because of a rise in excise duty imposed on alcohol and cigarettes. Deflation has been stalking Georgia’s economy, a reflection of the tough economic times hitting the region.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

 

Kazakhstan attends first UNSC session

JAN. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan attended its first UN Security Council meeting, a moment that Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev has been working towards for years. Mr Nazarbayev wants to promote Kazakhstan and he views the 2-year UN Security Council posting as an ideal way of doing this on the international stage. Kazakhstan was represented byBarlybay Sadykov, deputy head of Kazakhstan’s UN mission.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

 

Skirmish kills Azerbaijani and Armenian men

DEC. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — At least four soldiers, three Armenian and one Azerbaijani, were killed in fighting between the two neighbours, media reported quoting officials from both Armenia and Azerbaijan. The skirmishes are the most serious around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh since dozens died in April 2016. A UN-brokered deal has held an uneasy peace over the region since 1994.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

 

Kazakhstan relaxes visa rules

JAN. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan lifted visa restrictions on dozens of countries from Jan. 1 in a bid to increase tourism. Citizens of all EU states and countries belonging to the OECD can now travel to Kazakhstan without a visa for 30 days. The visa-free regime has also been extended to citizens of Malaysia, Singapore and the UAE. It had dropped visa requirements for 10 countries from July 2014.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

 

Kazakh police arrests ex-security chief

DEC. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Kazakhstan arrested Nartay Dutbayev, a former head of the Kazakh National Security Council, for allegedly leaking state secrets, media reported. He was detained four days earlier with two other men. Mr Dutbayev had been head of the Kazakh National Security Council between 2001 and 2006 and was considered to be an associate of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Details of the case have not yet been released.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

Azerbaijan extends BP deal

DEC. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has extended a deal made with a BP-led consortium dubbed the ‘Contract of the Century’ to develop its biggest Caspian Sea oil fields. The extension, although expected, had been delayed by arguments between the partners and a row with the Azerbaijani government over a drop in output at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshly fields (ACG). ACG is the lynchpin of Azerbaijan’s economy. The BP-led consortium will now develop the fields until 2050. The original deal had been due to expire in 2014.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

 

Kazakh grain harvest increases

DEC. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh farmers harvested 23.7m tonnes of grain in 2016, 20% more than in 2015, deputy agriculture minister Kairat Aituganov said. Grain yields in Kazakhstan have become an increasingly important part of the country’s economy over the past decade. Grain harvest fluctuate wildly. In 2010, Kazakhstan harvested 14m tonnes of grain but the following year recorded a post- Soviet high of 27m tonnes.

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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)

 

Inflation falls in Kazakhstan

JAN. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s statistics committee said that inflation had slowed to 8.5% in 2016 from 13.6% in 2015, suggesting, perhaps, that the economy is coming back under control after a turbulent period. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan’s economy has been hit by a fall in oil prices and a recession in Russia.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)