SEPT. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The day after winning a case against the Georgian government for keeping him in pre-trial detention for 14 months, Gigi Ugulava was found guilty of misspending public funds when he was the mayor of Tbilisi. He was jailed for 4-1⁄2 years. Separately, a judge acquitted Ugulava of money laundering.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The members of Georgia’s new Banking Supervisory Board are all close allies of former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, drawing immediate allegations of cronyism. The Banking Supervisory Board replaces the Central Bank as the authority over commercial banks. The head of the board is Konstantine Sulamanidze, former CEO of Progress Bank in which Mr Ivanishvili owns a stake.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Steven Seagal, the Hollywood actor best known for his 1980s and 1990s martial arts movies, pitched up in Azerbaijan to meet President Ilham Aliyev for a chat and photo op.
His acting commitments have waned but the 63-year-old appears to have created a decent business giving pep talks to leaders of ex-Soviet states. His clients include President Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Now Mr Aliyev’ clearly felt he needed Mr Seagal’s help. Relations with Europe and the US have worsened over human rights and vote monitoring.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In Jan.-July 2015, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan halved to $78.4m compared to the same period in 2014, according to Kyrgyz customs data. The figure shows the impact of the economic downturn.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, said it is negotiating the renewal of the so called ‘contract of the century’ it signed with BP over 20 years ago.
The contract concerns the most important set of oil fields in Azerbaijan, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli — also known as ACG — which is managed through a consortium in which BP has the largest share (35.8%) and SOCAR owns 11.6%.
“We are in talks,” said Rovnag Abdullayev, SOCAR’s chairman, when reporters asked him about the negotiations over the licence.
“Until 2024, BP is the operator at ACG. BP is likely to remain the operation in the future as well.”
BP has not commented but its management of the project is important both for the company and Azerbaijan, which is reliant on oil exports for its earnings.
It may be early to start negotiating an extension to the 30-year Production Sharing Agreement signed in 1994 but BP and Azerbaijan need to cement their fickle relationship.
An economic crisis, triggered by a steep fall in the value of oil over the past year, has hit Azerbaijan, forcing its manat currency to devalue by a third in February.
It has also cut its government budget and spent millions of dollars propping up its ailing currency.
Data from the oil rigs also makes for a dispiriting read. In the first eight months of 2015 oil production decreased by 2.5% compared to the same period in 2014.
ACG is the primary oilfield for Azerbaijan and in 2012 Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev accused BP of having committing “grave mistakes” in its management of the project. In Jan.-Aug. 2015, production at ACG was down by 2.2%, compared to 2014. BP has tried to maintain production by replacing staff and increasing investment in the fields but it has been unable to stop ACG’s decline.
Last week, BP suspended operations at Chirag for 20 days due to maintenance work which will hit output again.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazmunaigas Processing and Marketing (KMG P&M), a branch of the state-owned oil and gas company Kazmunaigas, said it wants to increase its brand’s share of the petrol retail market in Kazakhstan to around 33%. KMG P&M currently owns 324 petrol stations across the country representing 12% of the total. The company is selling 146 stations to private investors to reduce costs. The new owners will keep the Kazmunaigas brand. KMG P&M will then buy more stations to increase the number of petrol stations carrying its brand.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US embassy in Dushanbe donated tactical military equipment worth $260,000 to the Tajik special security forces (OMON) to use against drug traffickers in the south of the country, local media reported. The donation is controversial because Tajikistan has previously used its special forces against government opponents.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Trade turnover in Armenia dropped by over 5% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2014, media reported quoting the country’s statistics office. Media also reported that consumer prices had risen by 4.8%. Both indicators show the pressure that the Armenian economy is under.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Construction work at a new oil terminal in Turkmenistan’s Lebap region, near the border with Afghanistan, is close to completion, the Ministry of Petroleum said. The terminal will have a capacity of 540,000 tonnes of oil and will boost Turkmen export options.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Last week’s decision by the US Federal Reserve Bank not to modify interest rates was welcomed across Central Asia and the South Caucasus, where currencies performed well.
The Kazakh tenge, the Georgian lari and the Kyrgyz som all recouped 2% against the dollar and a timid 1% improvement was also noted in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Markets are still weak, however. Had it not been for Central Bank interventions for millions of dollars in Kazakhstan ($620m in one week), Georgia and Kyrgyzstan (around $30m each), their currencies would have kept falling.
By the end of the week, the Kazakh tenge was trading up 2.5% against the US dollar at 264/$1, the Kyrgyz som was up 2% at 69/$1 and the Georgian lari was up 2.4% at 2.39/$1.
Also, and this is interesting, a study from researchers at the International Monetary Fund found that the lack of confidence in domestic currencies and ingrained behaviours have hindered any policy of de-dollarisation across Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
