Category Archives: Uncategorised

Editorial: Taliban threat for Uzbekistan

JAN. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – For policy makers involved in pushing the CASA-1000 and TAPI projects, reports from Afghanistan that the Taliban have attacked and badly damaged part of a power line sending electricity to Kabul from southern Uzbekistan is the stuff their nightmares are made of.

CASA-1000 is the World Bank-backed $1.1b project that will supply Pakistan with power from hydro-stations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. TAPI is the name of a pipeline that will pump gas from Turkmenistan to India.

Both projects will transit across Afghanistan and form part of a loose north-south Silk Road that US officials have been touting for the past decade. The rub is that they require a stable Afghanistan and that, it appears, is exactly what they don’t have.

If the Taliban are attacking power lines running from Uzbekistan to Kabul then what would stop them attacking a power line running to neighbouring Pakistan or a pipeline running to India?

For each project, the leaders now have to inspect their security systems once again. Costs and doubts about both projects will be rising.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Qatar expands routes to Armenia and Azerbaijan

JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Qatar Airways, the country’s flagship airline, said it would expand its routes in the South Caucasus in Q1 and Q2 of 2016. The company announced the opening of a new Doha-Yerevan route from May 2016. Qatar Airways will fly four times a week to Armenia’s capital. The company also plans to expand from seven to eleven the weekly flights to Baku, from the end of March.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Georgian Opera House prepares for new season after $40m renovation

JAN. 29 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been one of the longest and most expensive renovation projects in Georgia’s history but now the 165-year-old Zacharia Paliashvili Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, originally called the Tiflis Imperial Theatre, is finally set to reopen its doors.

The curtains will be opened tomorrow night on the theatre’s six year, $40m renovation, a project paid for by former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Cartu Fund.

The first night will be reserved for invited guests only but members of the public can buy tickets for subsequent nights to see for themselves what has been promised has been a lavish renovation of one of the world’s most famous Russian Empire-era opera houses.

A grand and imposing building with a touch of Moorish swagger, the opera house dominates the central avenue running through Tbilisi. It was designed in the mid-19th century by Viktor Schröter, a German architect who lived in St Petersburg.

The main performance at the reopening of the theatre is a rendition of Georgian composer Zacharia Paliashvili’s symphony orchestra.

Standing in line to buy a ticket was, 70-year-old Lia Machitadze.

She wore a fur coat to ward off the January chill, large sunglasses and bright red lipstick. “I couldn’t wait for my aunt to take me to the opera when I was a little girl,”she said as she fluffed her hair up a little. “And now I can’t wait to experience its magical atmosphere again.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Stock market: KAZ Minerals

JAN. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In general, it was a positive week for Central Asia and South Caucasus focused companies, mainly because oil prices bounced back from the 12-year-lows touched last week.

After posting positive company results, shares in KAZ Minerals, previ- ously called Kazakhmys, shot up in the London Stock exchange continuing their positive trajectory picked up in mid-January. It finished trading on Jan. 28 at 122.75p – a three month high.

In its annual results KAZ Minerals said it was satisfied with its output despite a drop in copper cathode production. Although it has suffered from a slump in commodities prices, the KAZ Minerals is enjoying the cheap tenge currency. KAZ Minerals is focused on exports, so its revenue base, denominated in dollars, is solid.

A strong KAZ Minerals performance gives Central Asia/South Caucasus a cheerleader in this strife-laden period dominated by low oil prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Russia says IS have set up a training camp in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge

JAN. 27 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia said the radical Islamic group IS had set up a training centre in the Pankisi Gorge, prompting a quick and irritated denial from the Georgian government.

The spat has the potential to upset relations between Georgia and Russia at a delicate time. Over the past few years, since former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili lost power in 2013, relations between the two neighbours have improved. They fought a war in 2008 over the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian news agencies quoted Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, as saying at a press conference in Moscow: “We are getting reports IS militants use this remote area to train, rest and replenish their reserves. The terrorist threat from the Pankisi Gorge has not faded.”

The reference to the “terrorist threat” was to the Pankisi Gorge’s previous role as a hide-out for Chechen fighters battling Russian forces in the North Caucasus during the 1990s and the early 2000s.

The Pankisi Gorge is a predominantly Muslim area and Georgian security forces are increasingly concerned about IS recruitment from the region but Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili refuted Mr Lavrov’s allegations.

“The Georgian government carries out a full inspection of all the regions under its control. A few people from Pankisi Gorge have gone to Syria to fight for the Islamic State, though a strict control is imposed on their entry back to the country,” he said.

“I can say there is no terrorist threat in the Pankisi Gorge.”

Bidzina Lebanidze, political scientist at the Free University in Berlin said that he thought that Russia was trying to play mind games with Georgia by making the accusations to try to discredit it.

“It seems to be just another instrument in the Kremlin’s arsenal to put pressure on the pro-Western government in Tbilisi and to damage its international reputation,” he told The Conway Bulletin.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Editorial: Russian visit to Turkmenistan

JAN. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The visit by Sergei Lavrov to Ashgabat could be dismissed as a pre-scheduled annual trip by Russia’s foreign minister to one of the former Soviet Union’s outlying countries.

But that would be a mistake. His meeting with Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was an important one, especially in the context of a more powerful, more determined Taliban resurgence in northern Afghanistan.

Russia-Turkmenistan relations have been worsening over the past few years, a deterioration mainly caused by rows over gas contracts and prices and also an argument over one of Russia’s mobile providers.

It’s important for Turkmenistan, and the wider Central Asia region, that Russia-Turkmenistan relations are mended.

Ashgabat may need the Kremlin’s help with organising its defences against the Taliban. If the Taliban show any real determination to break into Central Asia, the governments of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan may well need Russian backup to repel them.

ENDS

Editorial from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Currency booths in Kazakh city

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Currency exchange booths in Almaty refused to change US dollars after the price of oil started to rise slightly, highlighting the fears and weaknesses of the Kazakh economy. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan’s currency has slumped with the decline in oil price. Unlike some of its neighbours, Kazakhstan hasn’t imposed heavy currency controls.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Returning Tajik migrants pressure social systems

JAN. 29 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — A recession in Russia and the collapse of the rouble has slowed remittances to Tajikistan and forced thousands of migrant workers back home, pressuring jobs, resources and social infrastructure.

Last week, Russia’s migrant service said that there were only 863,000 Tajik workers in Russia, down by a third from last year.

Tajikistan, with its poor, agricultural economy, cannot absorb the increasing number of returning migrants.

Toshboltaev Bozorboy, a 50-year- old man, was one of the returnees. He arrived back in December and said

that he’s been unable to find a job since he flew back to Tajikistan.

“I used to work in construction sites in Moscow earning 20,000 roubles a month ($263) but there is still no other option for me except to leave for Russia,” he said.

The economic downturn started in mid-2014 when oil prices started to fall and Western-imposed sanctions on Russia started to bite. Remittances from workers abroad make up around half of Tajikistan’s GDP and the economic slowdown has had a huge impact. Most Tajiks who lost their jobs in Russia said they were unable to find new jobs in Tajikistan.

Firuz Iskandarov, 23, quit Russia in August 2014. He has been out of work since then.

“Since coming back from Russia, I have done some farming and selling fruits. But that is a seasonal work. I don’t know what we are going to do,” he said, his voice choking with emotion.

For the authorities, returning migrants are a serious issue. A migration expert in Dushanbe said: “For most it will be difficult to find a decent job, and they will not be able to provide for their families. And this can lead to an increase in domestic violence, suicide, and a deterioration in criminal situations in the country.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Investor buys buses in Kazakh city

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Green Bus Company, a private transport company from Shymkent, has bought a 70% stake in Almatyelectrotrans, the company in charge of public transit in Almaty. Baurzhan Baibek, mayor of Almaty, said the new investor has pledged to buy 200 new buses. Almaty City will retain a 30% share in Almatyelectrotrans. Almaty’s transport network has been mired in controversy after a crash last year injured several people. Dozens of bus drivers have also protested over a new ticketing system.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Turkmen President signs new military doctrine

JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed a new military doctrine that confirmed Turkmenistan’s neutral status. There had been speculation that, under a potential threat from the Tablian, Mr Berdymukhamedov would reduce the importance of Turkmenistan’s neutrality in its military doctrine. He didn’t but official media reported that he did want to boost Turkmenistan’s defence measures.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)