SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tengizchevroil consortium developing oil fields in west Kazakhstan awarded a “significant” contract to Scotland-based engineering company Xodus. Xodus tests the strength of rigs and other upstream oil structures using sound waves.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 16 2015, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s som dropped to its lowest level against the US dollar since independence, forcing the Central Bank to step in to brake its fall.
At exchange kiosks in Bishkek, the som traded at 72/$1 before recovering to around 69/$1 after the Central Bank’s intervention. Still, the fall in the som, now down 13% in the past month, has pushed up inflation and worried people.
“Food is getting more expensive, it definitely reflects on the family budget,” a 52-year-old man who declined to be named said as he left a supermarket in central Bishkek.
When the Kyrgyz government pushed the country into the Russia- led Eurasian Economic Union last month it said food prices would fall.
Emil Umetaliev, a Bishkek-based analyst, said this promise has been shown to be empty. “How can they be cheaper if in Russia they are getting more expensive because of an internal crisis?” he said.
To stop the slide, the Central Bank bought $18m worth of som but a source at the Bank told the Bulletin officials were anxious.
“The Bank made intervention but it did not particularly affect such a fast growth of dollar,” she said.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev used the 550th anniversary celebrations of the Kazakh khanate to espouse on one of his favourite topics — nation building. At the celebrations, he called on the country to be known as the Land of the Great Steppe.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the US Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, said that corruption was still a major problem in the country. Mr Mills said that some progress had been made but that it was holding back the Armenian economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
TBILISI, SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air passenger traffic from Tbilisi to Moscow grew by 92% in Jan.-Aug. 2015 compared to the same period last year, Georgia’s minister of economy Dmitri Kumsishvili said, highlighting the economic importance of the route.
Flights between Georgia and Russia were halted in 2006, due to diplomatic tension. Direct air connection timidly resumed in 2010 and was finally re-established in 2014. In 2008 Georgia and Russia fought a brief war.
“The number of passengers was particularly high from Tbilisi to Moscow,” media quoted Mr Kumsishvili as saying.
According to Mr Kumsishvili, the route will boost Georgia’s economy.
“Russian visitors spent over 750m lari ($3m) in Georgia over the past 8 months,” he said. The Tbilisi-Moscow route it currently serviced by three airlines. These are Georgian Airways, also called Airzena, Sibir, Aeroflot and Transaero.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 12 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — The city’s zoo has re-opened three months after a flood hit it killing 19 people and an estimated 277 animals.
Pictures of dead lions and tigers and of a hippo wandering through central Tbilisi flashed around the world on the morning of June 14 after the flood tore into the zoo. A quarter of its animals were killed in the flood.
The zoo has re-opened on its original site but will move to a new premise on the outskirts of the city later in the year, the zoo’s director Zurab Gurielidze said.
He also said European zoos had agreed to give 150 animals to the zoo.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – London-based GMEX-Group said it signed a deal to help build Tajikistan’s inaugural stock exchange. The Central Asia Stock Exchange (CASE), as it will be known, aims to launch trading of securities later this year and derivatives next year. GMEX supplies the technical know-how to produce pricing and trading data.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AzMeCo) signed a deal with Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom for the supply of 2b cubic metres of gas to its methanol production plant. Under the agreement, Gazprom will supply 100% of AzMeCo’s needs at the plant in Garadagh, a district just outside Baku.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US Postal Service has issued two stamps commemorating famous Azerbaijani cultural figures, media reported quoting the Azerbaijani consulate in Los Angeles. The stamps are dedicated to the 130th birthday of composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli and the 100th birthday of singer Rashid Behbudov. Azerbaijani official in the US have been lobbying hard to promote the country.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani and Iranian officials have held talks to discuss connecting their railway networks, media reported quoting a regional Azerbaijani governor. If the two railway systems are connected, the link would give trade between the region and Europe a major boost.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
