Category Archives: Uncategorised

Turkmen President wants constitutional changes

FEB. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that he wants the country’s constitution altered to scrap both the upper age limit for presidents and the number of terms they can serve. He made the recommendations through a commission. Parliament officially has to approve the changes before they can be passed into law. The changes would cement Mr Berdmukhamedov’s grip on power.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Thales signs radar deal with Georgia

FEB. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – French technology company Thales signed 2m euro deal to upgrade Georgia’s radar systems. The deal means that Thales will inspect and maintain Georgia’s three main aviation radars over the next five years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Georgian tax changes to knock $400m off government budget

FEB. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s finance minister, Nodar Khaduri, said 400m lari ($160m) will be cut from the 2016 budget if parliament agrees to a new corporation tax that the government has said will stimulate economic growth.

The Georgian Dream coalition has staked a large amount of political capital on its proposed reforms which will only tax profit that is not re- invested. Government officials have said the idea is to try to encourage more economic activity. All profit is currently taxed.

“These reforms, both income tax and VAT, will reduce this year’s targeted revenues by about 400m lari,” Mr Khaduri, told media.

The government is also tinkering with VAT so that the import of so- called fix assets is VAT free.

$400m represents roughly 5% of the government’s expected total revenue for 2016.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Georgia deals with Abkhazia

FEB. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian government will import extra electricity from Russia to send on to the breakaway Abkhazia region in a short-term deal, media reported. Abkhazia is wholly reliant on the Enguri hydropower plant for its electricity but water levels have reached a critically low level meaning that there have been a series of power outages. The deal shows that despite vicious territorial disputes, Georgia, its breakaway republics and Russia can still pull deals together.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Carrefour opens first store in Kazakhstan

FEB. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev toured a newly-opened Carrefour supermarket in Almaty in a publicity stunt aimed at showing that despite a collapse in both oil prices and the tenge, Kazakhstan’s economy was still prospering.

Instead, though, the video of the Mr Nazarbayev’s walk-about appeared to betray how out-of-touch he was with ordinary people.

“Why are these called dirty,” Mr Nazarbayev said pointing at a pile of unwashed root vegetables – possibly carrots, possibly potatoes. “These are normal.”

Carrefour’s Kazakhstan director, Stephane Maurier, who was walking around the supermarket with Nazarbayev, explained. “We have clean and dirty,” he said.

Mr Nazarbayev, though, wasn’t impressed. “These are better than the clean ones,” he said and again pointed at the unwashed vegetables. “You don’t know what they are washed with.”

Things didn’t improve when Mr Nazarbayev, looking stiff in his tailored suit but smiling and apparently enjoying his trip to the supermarket, visited other sections.

He said the bananas were not ripe enough, told Mr Maurier croissants were unhealthy and dangerous and had to clarify with an elderly woman shopping for bread that 70 tenge ($0.2) was an average price for a loaf.

This particular Carrefour was located in the Grand Park shopping centre in Almaty. The franchise holder is Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim Group which operates other Carrefour shops around the world.

It was the first of nine planned stores that Carrefour wants to open in Kazakhstan. Five of the stores will be located in Almaty; four in Astana.

The opening of the Carrefour stores will give Kazakhstan’s battered economy a boost, create hundreds of jobs and hand Mr Nazarbayev more photo-ops in supermarkets.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Armenia cuts rates

FEB. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 8.5% on Tuesday, its lowest level in a year, to try and maintain inflation. The Central Bank has previously said that, overall, prices for the 12- months to the end of January had fallen by 0.4%, despite a month-on- month rise of 2.2% in January compared to December.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Alstom partners with Kazakh railway

FEB. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – French train-maker Alstom has bought another 25% stake in EKZ, its joint-venture in Kazakhstan with Kazakh state railway company Temir Zholy and Russia’s Transmashholding, media reported. The deal means that Alstom is now the majority partner in EKZ. It may also show Kazakhstan’s willingness to sell off part of its most cherished companies to foreigners so that it can raise cash during the worsening economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Kazakh GDP rises by 1.2%

FEB. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s statistic committee said the country’s GDP grew by 1.2% in 2015, its lowest rate for six years. The official figure is in line with what analysts expected. Both Halyk Finance, part of one of Kazakhstan’s biggest banks, and the Economist Intelligence Unit expect Kazakhstan’s GDP to shrink in 2016 if oil prices stay at $35/barrel.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 268, published on Feb. 19 2016)

Georgia introduces visa free regime with Iran

FEB. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia will restore the visa-free travel regime with Iran it suspended in July 2013, official media said. Under the new rules, Iranian citizens will be able to stay in Georgia for up to 45 days without a visa starting on Feb. 15. A spokesperson of the Iranian embassy in Tbilisi said this decision will promote good relations between the two countries.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Inflation pushes up in Armenia

FEB. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s consumer price index rose by 2.2% in January compared to December, the national statistics committee said. The statistics committee said a 5% increase in food prices last month pushed up overall inflation. This is the highest month-to-month inflation increase in Armenia in the past year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)