Category Archives: Uncategorised

Hard rock slows gold production in Azerbaijan’s mine

APRIL 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s top gold miner Anglo Asian Mining posted a 17.6% fall in production in Q1 2016, compared to the same period in 2015, mostly due to technical difficulties.

Anglo Asian is listed on London’s Alternative Stock Market (AIM). News of the production slowdown knocked its share price by 6.2%, pushing it to a seven-day low.

Reza Vaziri, Anglo Asian’s CEO, said: “The harder rock that has been encountered together with its lower grade has further lowered production compared to the previous quarter. To combat this harder rock, we have contracted for a second SAG mill to be installed in the agitation leach plant and we expect the SAG mill to be operational in Q3 2016.”

Sales also fell. In Q1 2016, the company sold 12,058 ounces of gold at $1,184/ounce. In Q1 2015, it sold 17,206 ounces at $1,214/ounce.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakhstan oil company’s wells dry up

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan-focused oil company Roxi Petroleum said its shallow wells produced 865 barrels of oil per day in March, 19% lower than the level reported in January. Contacted by The Bulletin, Roxi declined to comment. It also didn’t post production data for February.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Tech companies choose Georgian capital for lifestyle and low salaries

TBILISI, APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia is attracting globally footloose tech start-ups because of its relatively low taxes, skilled workforce and low salaries.

One of these is Topishare, now headquartered in one of Tbilisi’s oldest districts.

The grapevines dangling above doorways, the narrow streets and 19th century architecture are all in stark contrast to Topishare’s eight- person tech team who spend their days working on building what they hope will be a cutting-edge social media network focused on giving users increased privacy and greater control over what they read.

Israelis Rotem and Hila Peled, daughter and mother, co-founded Topishare.

“We have worked from Costa Rica, to Panama and Bulgaria, but Georgia stood out to us,” Ms Peled said.

“It’s not perfect, but the relatively easy business registration, easy visas, and low developers’ salaries convinced us.”

And Topishare is just part of a trend of tech start-ups moving to the Georgian capital. The angel.co website, which monitors start-up activities, said 42 were now based in Tbilisi.

Caroline Sutcliffe, an American, set up Chaikhana, an online media training platform and publishing tool focused on the South Caucasus, in Tbilisi two years ago.

She currently employs 12 people and said that although there have been problems, such as being turfed out of an office suddenly when it was sold overnight by the owner, there are plenty of positives.

“It is cheap to open a business, easy to open a bank account, there are few strings attached, labour is cheap, and rent is cheap,” she said.

There are problems with being based in Georgia, though, Eric Barret, another American who set up Jump- start, a platform which shares open- source technologies, said. He said that Tbilisi was a pleasant place to live but poor infrastructure was a problem.

“As a tech organization, we need to rely on predictable Internet service,” he said referring to the number of unscheduled outages that hit the Georgian internet network.

“Often my entire staff has to take a trip to a cafe that has Internet so we can continue to work.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Armenia and Azerbaijan hold shaky ceasefire over N-K

APRIL 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A fragile ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia-backed forces continued to hold around Nagorno-Karabakh, although there were reports of sporadic fighting.

Armenia-backed forces said they lost 97 soldiers and militiamen in the worst fighting over the disputed region since a ceasefire was imposed in 1994.

Azerbaijan’s government has not disclosed a final tally, but dozens were reported killed during intense battles that started on April 2.

Both sides blame the other for starting the fighting. The international community has urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to sue for peace.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kazakh econ health worsens

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said the country’s economic health worsened, as the debt/GDP ratio grew from 72.4% in 2014 to 83% last year. The debt/GDP ratio is the key figure to watch as it is recognised as a key indicator of economic health. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan has been trying to fend off an economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Senior Georgian judge calls homosexuals ‘flawed’

APRIL 8 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Nino Todua, a senior Georgian judge, told a parliamentary hearing on her promotion to the country’s Supreme Court that homosexuality is a moral flaw.

Her comments may be abhorrent to Western liberals, but for many Georgians Ms Todua was just reflecting their own strongly held views.

A survey by the largest data collection organisation in the country, CRRC, said that 87% of Georgia’s population believes homosexuality can never be justified.

“I feel sorry for them because of such a deviation. Every person has a flaw; I have mine and they have their flaws and that is their flaw,” Ms Todua was reported as saying when asked about homosexuals.

“There are no flawless persons. The question was why I think that it is a flaw – because cultural norms deem it to be such; it’s not just my personal opinion, the majority of the world’s population think that it’s against cultural norms.”

The homosexuality debate is important, politically, in Georgia. While anti-homosexual sentiment reflects popular opinion, it runs counter to the views of the European Union, a group that Georgia aspires to join.

And gay rights campaigners were quick to criticise Ms Todua.

Eka Chitanava, director of the local NGO Tolerance and Democracy Initiative, said that as a person in the public limelight, Ms Todua should keep her personal opinions private.

“Her beliefs will directly impact her decisions. It was a mistake from the president to nominate her for that position,” she said.

Still, on the streets of Tbilisi, it was clear that most people generally supported her position.

Shalva, a 54 year old bus driver, said: “I don’t care what people do in their bedroom, but they shouldn’t shove their life-styles in my face. Good for her for speaking up for the Georgian people. We need someone to protect our values.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kyrgyzstan approves weaker foreign agents bill

APRIL 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kyrgyz parliamentary committee approved a weaker version of the so-called foreign agents bill than they had originally devised, eurasianet.org reported, appearing to give way to strong opposition to the new laws which Western human rights activists said had been inspired by a similar law in Russia. The paperwork burden and the hostile labelling of groups linked to foreign governments has been reduced compared to the previous version.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

WorleyParsons wins contract in Georgia and Azerbaijan

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Australia-based WorleyParsons said it won a five-year Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management contract with BP for its operations in Azerbaijan and Georgia. The company will service the BP-operated Sangachal Terminal and pipelines in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. It didn’t say how much the contract was worth.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Azerbaijan to support oil freeze

APRIL 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan will participate in a meeting of oil producers in Doha and will support the proposal to freeze production at Jan. 2016 levels, Russian media quoted an Azerbaijani government source as saying. The Doha meeting is an opportunity for producers to agree on measures to drive up oil prices. In February, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela agreed to freeze production at Jan. 2016 levels.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Sariyev quits as Kyrgyz PM to fight corruption allegations

APRIL 11 2016, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Temir Sariyev quit as Kyrgyzstan’s PM, less than a year after taking the job, after he was accused of corruption over a roadbuilding contract.

Three days later parliament voted in Sooronbai Jeenbekov, considered a heavyweight politician from Osh and loyal to President Almazbek Atambayev, as the new PM.

Emil Juraev, a professor at the American University of Central Asia, said Mr Jeenbekov may have been handed the PM job because he is able to unify bickering north-south factions.

“The new PM is a figure that suits all interested parties,” he said. “He is less ambitious and autonomous, compared to Sariyev.”

Still, Mr Jeenbekov is Kyrgyzstan’s sixth PM since a new constitution that handed more power to parliament was imposed in October 2010, highlighting just how fractured the Kyrgyz political landscape is.

On the streets of Bishkek, the frustrations of ordinary Kyrgyz that another PM had lasted less than a year were evident. Kablanbek, 60, said that he was disappointed to see Mr Sariyev go already.

“He should have worked for at least two-three years. Quitting after one year in office was a terrible idea,” he said.

At the centre of the latest corruption allegation to hit Kyrgyz politics was a contract Mr Sariyev handed to a Chinese company last year.

Mr Sariyev has denied that there was any corruption involved. Giving a resignation speech at this final government meeting, he said that he was the victim of lies and intrigue.

“I have neither time nor intention to play such political games,” he said. But many people held a different view. They have become cynical of Kyrgyz politicians and high levels of corruption. Daniyer, a 25-year-old student, reflected the views of many when he said: “In such positions, everyone tries to seize the opportunity to rob the country.”

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)