Category Archives: Uncategorised

Kazakhstan’s energy firm schedules Kashagan work

MARCH 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazmunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state- owned energy firm, said work at the Kashagan offshore oil field is on schedule and it expects the field to be ready for production by October 2016. Kazmunaigas’ CEO Sauat Mynbayev said he is still unsure about the volumes that Kashagan will produce in November-December 2016. The consortium developing Kashagan, which includes Kazmunaigas, Shell, Exxon, Total, Eni, Inpex and CNPC, has been replacing damaged pipes.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Azerbaijan and Iran swap prisoners

MARCH 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan handed over five Iranians it was holding in jail in return for six Azerbaijanis imprisoned in Iran, the latest prisoner swap between the two neighbours. Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have improved dramatically over the past couple of years. As well as swapping prisoners, Azerbaijan has been building relations with Iran and signing deals in various sectors including transport and power.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Uzbek health sector receives funding

MARCH 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kuwait Fund for Arab Development said it had agreed to give a $24m loan to finance buying urology equipment for hospitals in Uzbekistan. The Kuwait Fund is sponsored by the Kuwaiti government. Kuwait has, over the past couple of years, developed more interest in Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

British Airways cuts flight to Azerbaijani capital, its final link with region

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – British Airways will cut a 21-year-old route when it drops its six-times-a- week service to Baku from London.

It said that poor demand, linked to the sharp economic downturn that has engulfed the region in the past 18 months, has made the route unprofitable.

“We have taken the decision to suspend the London Heathrow to Baku route as it is no longer commercially viable,” a statement read.

“The final service from Heathrow will be on April 29, 2016 and the final service departing Baku will be on the same day.”

The London-Baku route is the last remaining BA flight into Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

It has slowly dropped the region’s capitals as destinations.

Yerevan and Bishkek were dropped in 2012, Tbilisi in 2013 and Almaty in 2014.

But symbolically, dropping Baku is more serious than any of the others. Baku is the centre of BP’s operations in the region which has always driven demand.

It was also a route that BA first flew in 1995, four years after the break up of the Soviet Union. It handed over to British Mediterranean Airways in 2003 before BMI took it on in 2007. BA then reclaimed the route in 2012.

As BA has dropped routes to Central Asia and the South Caucasus, though, regional airlines have stepped in. Air Astana now boasts it is the only airline that flies directly between London and Almaty/Astana.

Soon, Azerbaijan Airlines will be able to give the same boast on flights to Baku.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Uzbek-Chinese JV plans to start production

MARCH 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek-Chinese joint venture New Silk Road Oil & Gas Company Ltd plans to start production at the Karakul gas condensate fields in Uzbekistan’s Bukhara region by the end of the year. The leadership of the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company, which is a co-founder of the joint venture told Trend it will award drilling tenders in late April-early May 2016.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Uzbekistan raises gas prices

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has approved gas price increases of 8.2% for its population from April 1, the second price rise in six months.

Utility prices across the region have been increasing over the past couple of years as local currencies have devalued and overall inflation has accelerated.

But they are still sensitive, emotive issues.

Gas and electricity have always been subsidised in the former Soviet Union, so people generally resent increases.

In October, the authorities raised gas prices by 7.2%. This time, other utilities will also rise in Uzbekistan, the government said.

The price of cold water will rise by 5.7%, central heating and hot water by 9% and electricity by 8.9%. Last year in Armenia, proposed electricity price rises triggered street demonstrations that forced the government to back down from increasing prices.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Editorial: Banking in Tajikistan

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – There are two kinds of banking crises. One is when the financial sector struggles to stay healthy, as toxic assets mar the books of commercial banks, as seen most notably in Kazakhstan in 2011-2013.

The other one is a crisis of trust, when citizens start doubting the ability of their banks to provide cash and protect their savings.

This second type of crisis is now happening in Tajikistan. Our correspondent listened to angry voices from the long queues forming outside Tojiksodirotbank, Tajikistan’s third-largest lender.

A regional economic downturn has hit Tajikistan hard, especially because of the sharp drop in the value of worker remittances from Russia.

The government has put the blame on external and private factors. Notably, the Central Bank blamed exchange offices for the imbalance in the exchange rates.

Now responsibility seems to be shifting to commercial lenders, which are a channel for remittances and an increasingly popular method for paying wages among businesses.

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Editorial from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kazakhstan reveals Q4 GDP growth

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 1.2% in Q4 2015, the same rate as in Q3, official data showed. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan’s economy has been under increasing pressure from a worsening economic outlook. Last year Q1 GDP growth measured 2.3% and Q2 1.7%. This year the government has predicted growth of just 0.5%.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s GDP drops

MARCH 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s GDP was 7.8% lower in the first two months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, the country’s statistics agency said. The drop was linked to a sharp fall in gold exports which make up the bulk of Kyrgyzstan’s exports. Gold and silver production was down over 50%, it said. The data shows just how vulnerable Kyrgyzstan is to fluctuations in its core export.

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(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Stock market: Roxi Petroleum, KAZ Minerals, Centerra

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan-focused oil company Roxi Petroleum hit the headlines with a daily increase in its share price of over 10%, although the company did not publish updates regarding its operations at the BNG contract area in Western Kazakhstan.

Still rallying on positive results and an uptake in commodity prices, KAZ Minerals also fared well. The Motley Fool financial website said that, together with Glencore and Fresnillo, KAZ Minerals “could be a great long- term play on a mining sector recovery.”

Centerra Gold, a Kyrgyzstan-based Canadian miner, performed poorly again, and the company blames it on the uncertainty regarding negotiations the ownership structure with the Kyrgyz government.

“The uncertainty about renegotiating the future ownership profile of the Kumtor mine with the Kyrgyz government weighed heavily on the stock,” Mining Weekly quoted CEO Scott Perry as saying.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)