Category Archives: Uncategorised

Kazakhstan wracks up $4b deficit in 2015

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan wracked up a $4b current account deficit in the first nine months of 2015, the Central Bank said, a direct consequence of the fall in the price of oil and gas — its main exports.

This deficit compares with a $6b surplus in the same period last year and shows the impact of the collapse in energy and commodities prices.

The volume of Kazakhstan’s oil and commodities exports was the same in the first nine months of this year compared to last year but they dropped, heavily, in value, earning Kazakhstan far less cash.

The Central Bank data will intensify pressure on the Kazakh government to diversify its economy away from oil and gas.

And Kazakhstan’s monetary policy also played a role in current account deficit too.

Until the Central Bank abandoned its US dollar peg in August, after stubbornly refusing to devalue alongside the Russian rouble, Kazakh exports to Russia were just too expensive. And this hurt Kazakh industry. Russia is one of its main export market.

And this showed up in Kazakhstan’s trade balance. Although still positive, it shrank by almost two thirds. In Jan-Sept 2015, Kazakhstan’s exports exceeded imports by $10.7b, a drop from $30.6b during the same period in 2014.

These figures are a stark reminder of the impact of the regional economic malaise on Kazakhstan. The 40% devaluation of the tenge after the Central Bank ditched its US dollar peg will help Kazakh exporters but the government really needs an increase in oil and gas prices to restore its revenues.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Samsung to build a plant in Uzbekistan

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korean Samsung Engineering signed an agreement with Uzbekneftegaz to build a petrochemical plant in Uzbekistan. Samsung said the new aromatics plant is still at its conceptual design phase and did not say when it would be built. Uzbekneftegaz, Uzbekistan’s state-owned oil and gas company, has already collaborated with Samsung on a $700m polymer plan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Georgia bottled water company builds new factory

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Healthy Water, the Georgian-Swiss company that produces the Nabeghavi brand of mineral water, will build a new factory in the western Guria region to expand its product line and increase its share of Georgia’s valuable bottled water market.

The new €30m ($32m) plant will open in 2016 near Batumi in western Georgia and add six bottling lines to the company’s production chain.

Healthy Water also plans to start producing lemonade, fruit juices and iced-tea. Funding for the new factory comes from a number of backers, including the EBRD.

As well as producing the upmarket Nabeghlavi brand, with its iconic green glass bottles and branding, Healthy Water also produces bottled water under the Bakhmaro brand. In 2014, it was the second-largest bottled water company in Georgia behind Borjomi, the most famous Georgian bottled water company.

Borjomi, with its slightly salty taste, dominates the Georgian bottled water market with 41% of the market.

Healthy Water has a 36% market share, split between its brands.

Healthy Water’s real aimmaybe the lucrative export market. It already exports its Nabeghlavi and Bakhmaro brands to North America, eight European Union countries, China, Russia and Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

LiveJournal comes back to Kazakhstan

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The social networking site LiveJournal will be available again in Kazakhstan, the government said. LiveJournal, which is popular in the former Soviet Union, was banned in August 2011 for “propagating terrorism and extremism.” Kazakhstan has been criticised for cracking down on free speech.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

SOCAR-Fugro joint venture to upgrade Azerbaijan’s refinery

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR said its joint venture with Dutch oil and gas services company Fugro will work on the modernisation of a refinery near Baku. SOCAR Fugro will provide geophysical and geotechnical services for the modernisation work. Azerbaijan has earmarked around $1b for reconstruction work on the country’s largest refinery.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Uzbek sum drops

NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s Central Bank dropped the value of its sum currency to 2,706 sum/$1, down from 2,635/$1, a drop of 2.6%. On the Black Market, the dollaruz.com website reported that the fall was even greater. Currencies across Central Asia are under increasing pressure from a fall in the value of commodities and a recession in Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Kazakhstan to give state workers pay rise, stoking inflation

NOV. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – State workers in Kazakhstan will receive pay rises next year of 7-29% to offset the devaluation of the tenge, media reported quoting social development minister Tamara Duysenova. The figures show just how pronounced the anticipated devaluation-linked inflation is likely to be.

The tenge has fallen by 40% in value since its US dollar peg was ditched in August and analysts have warned of a corresponding surge in inflation.

This has already begun to seep through. The Central Bank said that annualised inflation jumped to 9.2% in October, double the rate in September. The announcement on the size of the state pay rises, though, suggests more price rises are likely.

Most of the state employees that Ms Duysenova said would receive a pay rise were doctors, nurses and teachers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Petronas ups Turkmen output

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Petronas Carigali said it wants to increase oil production in the Turkmen section of the Caspian Sea. By year-end, output at the Diyarbekir offshore field should reach 10,000 barrels/day and the company plans to add another 7,000 barrels/day from the Garagol-Western Deniz field. Petronas Carigali is the Turkmen subsidiary of the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Beeline profit rise in Kyrgyzstan

NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Beeline Kyrgyzstan, owned by Russia’s VimpelCom, posted Q3 profits up nearly 19% from Q2. Beeline said profit had risen because Kyrgyz were more relaxed about spending more on their mobile phones. Compared to last year, Beeline’s customer base was up only 1.7%. Analysts and businesses have said that in Kyrgyzstan, people are spending more and more time on their mobile phone surfing the web.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Ukraine supports Georgia over SOssetia

NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a show of support for Georgia, Ukraine said it will fine anybody driving a car with a South Ossetian or Abkhazian number plate, media reported. Ukraine is locked in a war with Russia for control of the eastern part of its country. It counts Georgia as a strong ally. S.Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russia- backed Georgian rebel states.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)