APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Vladimir Shkolnik, Kazakhstan’s energy minister, said the Caspian Sea oil project Kashagan would resume pumping oil in December 2016. This estimation is a few weeks earlier than Western energy companies linked to the project have suggested. Oil from Kashagan was suspended in 2013.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Dominoes Pizza, arguably the most recognisable pizza brand in the world, opened its first store in Tbilisi on April 26, the company said in a statement. US fast food chains have been piling into Georgia.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Nurzhan Subkhanberdin resigned as director of Kazkommertsbank after selling a 7.2% stake in the bank, one of the largest in Kazakhstan, to Kenes Rakishev, the son-in-law of the Kazakh defence minister.
Although Mr Subkhanberdin still owns 37.8% of Kazkommertsbank his ousting from the board effectively completes the takeover of Kazkommertsbank by businessmen
loyal to President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Earlier this year Mr Subkhanberdin was replaced as chairman of Kazkommertsbank, a position he had held since setting it up in 1991.
The London-based Mr Subkhanberdin was viewed with suspicion. He had openly sup- ported opponents of Mr Nazarbayev in the early 2000s.
Last year, Kazkommertsbank had been cajoled into a merger with BTA Bank, which the government rescued from bankruptcy in 2009. The merger imposed BTA Bank’s large portfolio of bad loans onto Kazkommertsbank, hitting its profits. In 2014, Kazkommertsbank said on April 30, profit dropped by 55%.
The deal is another major boon for Mr Rakishev too. He now owns 23.34% of the bank.
Mr Rakishev, 35, is closely linked to the Kazakh elite. Analysts have said the Kazakh elite use Mr Rakishev to buy companies and to hold shares in businesses.
He is married to the daughter of the minister of defence Imangali Tasmagambetov, one of President Nazarbayev’s closest associates.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Malaysia’s state energy company Petronas completed the $2.25b buyout of the Statoil’s assets in Azerbaijan, making it one of the biggest players on the Azerbaijani oil and gas scene.
The deal included a 15.5% stake in the Shah Deniz gas project, a 15.5% stake in the South Caucasus Pipeline Company and a 12.4% stake in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company.
Importantly, too, Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company SOCAR took over operational control of the South Caucasus Pipeline Company which pumps gas from the Shah Deniz project, across Georgia to Turkey. From there it links up to the Turkish gas pipeline network.
Statoil surprised analysts last October when it agreed the deal. At the time it said that it wanted to reduce the proportion of investment in its portfolio in favour of higher value projects.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a rare trip to the EU, Turkmen president Kurbanguly Bedymukhamedov flew to Italy to meet Italian PM Matteo Renzi. A Turkmen government statement said he discussed energy security and bilateral relations at the meeting. The EU is hoping to secure gas deliveries from Turkmenistan.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The PEN American Center awarded its Freedom Award to imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova. Ms Imayilova is in pre-trial detention for coaxing a fellow journalist into a suicide attempt. She is one of Azerbaijan’s most high- profile journalists.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in south Tajikistan sentenced 10 men to 8-1/2 years in prison each for being members of the banned Islamic extremist group Jamaat Ansarullah. Jamaat Ansarullah is an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, blamed for a series of attacks over the past couple of decades in Central Asia.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Armenia arrested a former MP for allegedly being involved in a murder plot, media reported. Gohar Yenokyan, 73, had been an MP for the opposition Prosperous Armenia party. No specific details of the apparent murder plot were released.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Washington next week, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan will sign a trade deal with the US, media reported quoting US government sources. Although Armenia is an ally of Russia it is also improving ties with the West.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Initial data from the Georgian statistics office showed that economic growth in Georgia has picked up since the beginning of the year. Geostat said that overall year-on-year (y/y) growth in Q1 was 3.2%. In January y/y growth was 0.5%, in February it measured 4.9% and in March it measured 4.3%.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
