Category Archives: Uncategorised

Georgian government cuts national budget

JUNE 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – TBILISI – Georgia’s finance ministry said it will cut the national budget by 140m lari ($53m), 1.75% of the original budget, because of an economic slowdown.

Cuts will be made across government but hardest hit will be education, agriculture and the interior ministry.

PM Irakli Garibashvili said the government should have revised its budget earlier.

“Almost all the countries in the region had to revise their budgets because of the crisis,” he told parliament.

The government said that Georgia’s economy would grow by around 2% this year, far below the 5% initially anticipated.

A downturn in Russia’s economy and a slump in energy prices has hit Georgia hard. It is unclear if these cuts will be enough or more will follow.

The popularity of the ruling Georgian Dream has been slip- ping, in part because of the economic slowdown.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Turkmen gas will reach Europe

JUNE 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the European Union will set up a working group to look at the best way to deliver Turkmen gas to European consumers, media reported quoting the European Commission. This is, probably, an important step forward for Turkmenistan which wants to send its gas across the Caspian Sea to Europe.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Georgian President meets UK PM

JUNE 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili met British PM David Cameron in Bratislava on the sidelines of a global security conference. Georgia wants to join NATO.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Kyrgyz MPs resisted Kumtor restrictions

JUNE 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – MPs in Kyrgyzstan resisted an attempt by the Ata-Meken party to impose stricter mining techniques at the Kumtor gold mine. Ata-Meken is part of the ruling coalition. Kumtor is owned by Toronto-based Centerra Gold. Kyrgyzstan has been arguing with Centerra over ownership of the mine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Kazakhstan increased gold reserves

JUNE 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan increased its gold reserves for the 32nd month in a row, the IMF said. Kazakhstan’s gold reserves measure 203.4 tonnes. Despite spending heavily to protect the tenge, the Kazakh Central Bank has maintained its policy of buying gold.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Tajik electricity exports rise

JUNE 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan increased exports of electricity to Afghanistan by a third in May compared to the same month in 2014, media reported quoting official statistics. This is important because international backers view Tajiksitan’s hydro-generated electricity as a decent export.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

MoneyGram to operate in Turkmenistan

JUNE 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – MoneyGram International, a money wire transfer service, said that it had set up operations in Turkmenistan. MoneyGram’s entry into Turkmenistan will be boost to remittance flows which rely heavily on easy wire transfer services.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Kazakh BTA ends banking

JUNE 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh Central Bank cancelled BTA’s banking licence, officially ending its banking activities. BTA, which had once been one of Kazakhstan’s biggest banks, merged with Kazkommertzbank earlier this year. It assumed a massive proportion of bad debt in the 2008/9 Global Financial Crisis.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Azerbaijani weapons exports increases

JULY 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Yaver Jamalov, Azerbaijan’s defence industry minister, said he wanted to increase the number of countries that Azerbaijan exported its weapons and ammunition to. Mr Jamalov said he had concluded a deal with Iraq’s government to supply hundreds of grenade launchers and mortars.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 241, published on July 23 2015)

Russian soldier dies in Armenia

JUNE 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Russian soldier was found stabbed to death in the city of Gyumri, Armenia, home to one of Russia’s largest overseas military bases. Media reported that another Russian soldier has been detained on suspicion of killing the man.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)