APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Investment Bank, the EU’s institution for giving long-term funding, opened an office in Tbilisi. The office will serve the whole of the South Caucasus and underlines the EU’s commitment to the region. It also announced a $40m loan to the Bank of Georgia to fund small sized projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament approved a Russian plan to extend the life-span of the Metsamor nuclear plant by 11 years to 2026, media reported.
Metsamor, built in the 1970s, provides 40% of Armenia’s power but it is controversial. There are concerns over its safety record and its position in an area known for earthquakes.
Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom will carry out maintenance at the nuclear site, media reported, a project also funded by Russian cash. In February, Russia agreed to lend Armenia $230m to pay for the maintenance and also to give a $30m grant.
Whatever Armenia professes about its various pro-West policies, it is in Russia’s pocket. Russia owns the gas pipeline monopoly, maintains a large military base in Armenia and has pulled Yerevan into its economic union.
This nuclear deal at Metsamor, which has been a few years in the making, just confirms its grip over Armenia.
The Metsamor nuclear plant, which sits near Yerevan near the border with Turkey, is no stranger to controversy. In 2011, the National Geographic magazine published a story with the headline: “Is Armenia’s Nuclear Plant the World’s Most Dangerous?”
The EU and the US appear to think so. The EU offered Armenia nearly $300m to fund the closure of the nuclear plant, an offer Armenia rejected.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s Central Bank said it would keep its key interest rate at 9% because the economy was set to hit its inflation target. In January the Central Bank raised its interest rate by 1%. Uzbekistan’s main currency exchange exists on the black market but the statement gives insight into the Central Bank.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund said its assets had dropped by 5% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2014. Azerbaijan’s government is trying to push its way through a regional economic downturn and has said it will dip into its reserves to support various projects.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon sacked the head of Tajikistan’s Central Bank Abdujabbor Shirinov, media reported, an apparent reaction to the continued slide of the somoni currency.
This year the somoni has nose-dived by around 20% against the US dollar as it struggled to cope with a fall in the value of the Russian rouble and a dip in Russia’s economy which has hit remittances.
Mr Shirinov, a previous Tajik ambassador to the United States and head of the Central Bank since 2012 has taken increasingly desperate measures to defend the currency. Last month he ordered exchange kiosks to be banned but instead of giving the government more control over its currency, it just forced money changers into the black market.
The Dushanbe-based ASIA-Plus reported that Jamshed Nourmahmadzoda had been appointed Tajikistan’s new Central Bank chief. Mr Nourmahmadzoda was previously head of Amonatbonk.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Apparently worried about people defaulting on mortgage payments, the Kazakh Central Bank has set up a 130b tenge ($700m) fund. Kazakh media said the Central Bank will loan cash to commercial banks who will then help people who took out mortgages, possibly in dollars, between 2004 and 2009.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Salaries have risen by nearly 10% since the beginning of the year in Turkmenistan, official media reported quoting the Turkmen finance ministry.
This piece of data is important for two main reasons. Firstly, it is a rare piece of data from Turkmenistan’s government on prices and inflation. Secondly, it shows the probable impact of the devaluation by 30% of Turkmenistan’s manta currency on Jan. 1.
Turkmenistan, like other countries in the region, has been struggling to cope with the fall in global energy prices and the downturn in Russia’s economy that has slashed around 50% off the value of its rouble currency.
Both issues have pressured Central Asian economies and Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedobv ordered the Central Bank to cut the value of the manat for the first time in seven years.
Typically, currency devaluations in Central Asia have triggered inflation and, although not officially confirmed, this appears to be the case in Turkmenistan.
The Turkmen finance ministry said salaries had risen by 9.5% in the first three months of the year. It didn’t give any more information.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan banned poultry products from Russia after the Russian ministry of agriculture identified an outbreak of Bird Flu on the Caspian Sea near the Kazakh border.
Some analysts and media pundits, though, said Kazakhstan’s speedy ban on poultry goods from Russia was an escalation of a trade war.
Although both Kazakhstan and Russia are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, a Kremlin-led club supposed to smooth trade in the region, the fall in the value of the Russian rouble has increased tension. Businesses in Kazakhstan have been lobbying the government to impose barriers against the now far-cheaper goods from Russia.
It has banned oil-product imports as well as butter, chocolate, sweets and mayonnaise to defend jobs and companies. In retaliation, Russia has banned flour and dairy products from Kazakhstan.
Both governments have denied they are involved in a trade war and have instead insisted that various bans have been triggered by health concerns.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – En route to Moscow for celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans a stop in Astana to meet Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, media reported. His stopover highlights the close Kazakhstan-China relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, and a former Georgian PM, has once again criticised the Central Bank for failing to stop a depreciation of the lari currency, media reported. The previous government, loathed by Mr Ivanishvili, appointed the current Central Bank chief.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
