Category Archives: Uncategorised

Azerbaijan’s electricity production falls

JUNE 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s Statistics Committee said electricity production fell by 7% in the first five months of the year to 9.3b kWh, compared to the same period last year. Azerbaijan’s thermal power plants, which generate the bulk of electricity in the country, produced 10% less electricity than last year. Hydroelectric power plants increased production by 15%.

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

Tajik President sets power output goal

JUNE 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon said electricity generation in his country will grow by three times by 2030. Mr Rakhmon set the power output goal at 45b kWh/year, compared to 17b kWh last year. In addition, Mr Rakhmon said the country’s export potential will grow to 10b kWh/year. Tajikistan is tasked with generating most of the electricity for the CASA-1000 power transmission line to Pakistan.

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

OSCE to monitor contact line between Azerbaijan and Armenia

JUNE 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in St Petersburg hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbiajani leader Ilham Aliyev agreed to continue discussions reaching a permanent peace deal over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

They also said that an OSCE mission would be sent to the region to monitor the contact line between the two sides.

The Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe is Europe’s democracy watchdog and conflict resolution group. Its involvement in the disputed region of Nagorno-Ka- Karabakh, which suffered its worst outbreak of fighting in April since a UN-brokered peace deal in 1994, is considered vital.

“The OSCE [will] monitor the line of engagement between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops near the village of Agdam in Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district on June 22,” Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said in a note following the meeting.

The fighting in April between Azerbaijan’s army and Armenia-backed forces killed several dozen people and looked at one time that it would drag in neighbouring countries and spread.

The two presidents had previously met in Vienna in mid-May. After the St. Petersburg meeting they are likely to schedule another summit to evaluate the progress made in Nagorno- Karabakh. Analysts have said that continued meetings between the two leaders is important.

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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)

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)

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)

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)

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)