Category Archives: Uncategorised

Inflation likely to climb in Kyrgyzstan

>>Economy minister warns of more price rises>>

FEB. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s economy minister, Temir Sariev, said that inflation could hit 13% this year, double the rate the government is aiming for.

Mr Sariev said that a combination of events had forced a large price jump in Kyrgyzstan — the falling Russian rouble, a slowdown in the economy and joining the Kremlin-steered Eurasian Economic Union.

In December annualised inflation measured over 10%, sharply up from the beginning of the year.

Last month the Kyrgyz Central Bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points to 11%, its highest rate since 2012.

But alongside the rouble devaluation and entry to the Eurasian Economic Union, Mr Sariev said that other problems had also weighed on the economy and had made the start of 2015 difficult.

“Seasonal water shortage has brought two big problems for us. Firstly, agricultural products produced in fewer amounts. Second, less energy produced. As a result, we had to buy it in Kazakhstan,” he said according to media reports.

The problem for the government is a weak economic outlook triggers resentment.

Opposition parties have already said that intend to hold a series of rallies in Bishkek this spring themed around what they described as a new economic crisis.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)

Ukraine appoints Saakashvili

>>Appointment angers Tbilisi who want him extradited>>

FEB. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a surprise move, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Russia’s arch foe, Mikheil Saakashvili, as an adviser and an official overseas representative of the government.

The appointment has irritated Georgia’s government who want Mr Saakashvili, a former Georgian president, extradited.
They accuse him of various crimes and have placed him on the Interpol wanted list. Since leaving office in 2013, Mr Saakashvili has lived in New York.

“For a long time, we’ve been thinking how to use the knowledge, experience and unique know-how of Mikheil Saakashvili in the best way,” Mr Poroshenko’s press service said. “Until recently, Mikheil was, in fact, a freelance consultant of Ukraine on reforms. And now, finally, he gets official status.”

His arch rival in Georgia, the head of the coalition which chased him from power after nearly 10 years, Bidzina Ivanishvili, saw it differently. He said several members of Mr Saakashvili’s government now worked in Ukraine and that most are wanted on corruption charges in Tbilisi.

“Now they have found asylum in Ukraine, but let us wish for them that events develop in a better way there,” he said in an interview with Georgian media.

The appointment of Mr Saakashvili to the Ukraine government will also anger Russian president Vladimir Putin. The men were locked in a personal battle during their presidencies which culminated in a brief war in 2008.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)

Tbilisi official arrested

FEB. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian interior ministry said it arrested Jokia Bodokia, a senior official in the Tbilisi city government, for taking a bribe. PM Irakli Garibashvili has said that he wants to make wiping out corruption a priority. Opposition said he is using the purge to attack his enemies.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)

Architecture in Kazakhstan stirs passions

>>A row over a blog discussing Almaty’s architecture hits a sensitive nerve>>

ALMATY, FEB. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — “This is sick,” one commentator wrote. “You’re a monster,” wrote another.”

The offending photograph showed an old cottage here in Almaty decked in fine Russian vernacular architecture: carved eaves called karnizy, ornate window frames called nalichniki.

The picture had been, for full-disclosure, run through a muddy Instagram filter, and the house wasn’t in the best of shape. Yet the dissenting faction, trolls or otherwise, couldn’t find anything to admire.

“Why don’t you show our Al-Farabi Boulevard instead?” one user offered. “We’ve got all the fanciest cars!”

I never thought a site about Almaty’s overlooked architecture would be so divisive. Yet the project, Walking Almaty, has revealed a certain fault line in the attitudes of local denizens.

For those born after the fall of the USSR in 1991, the Soviet stuff I celebrated was something of an embarrassment and anything old acted as a painful, rusty reminder. Al Farabi Boulevard at the southern end of town, with its Prada store and glass and steel feel, is the aspirational icon of this crowd.

Meanwhile, old-timers who still call the city by its Russian name of Alma-Ata converse through online forums. For them, the past is something lived, not something to be shirked, and as facades of faux-granite rise, they feel as disrespected as the haters I witnessed on Instagram.

One youthful user recently posted online a picture of a rebuilt cottage, its wooden fretwork ripped off, its new paint job unsubtle. The old-timers responded in chorus. “This is sick.”

By Dennis Keen, an Almaty-based American blogger and writer
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)

Kyrgyz Central Bank spends heavily

FEB. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan has spent around 10% of its currency reserves this year defending its currency from devaluing, media quoted the chairman of the Central Bank, Tolkunbek Abdygulov, as saying. The Kyrgyz som is closely linked to the Russian rouble and has devalued against the US dollar by around 20%.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)

Berdy wants more clients

FEB. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Perhaps feeling the pinch from falling energy prices, Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov wants Turkmenistan to increase the number of foreign clients it has for its gas, the official website turkmenistan.ru reported. Mr Berdmukhamedov has already increased Turkmenistan’s client case since taking over.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Uzbek/Kazakh water politics

>>Is Kazakhstan shifting away from pro-Uzbekistan stance?>>

FEB. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Astana has been a reliable supporter for Tashkent on some major regional issues over the past 20 years, backing Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s opposition to prospective Tajik and Kyrgyz hydropower dams and also deporting Uzbek asylum seekers.

But the Kazakh authorities may have recently started sending signals that suggest they want changes in Uzbekistan. For instance, Rapil Joshybayev, the Kazakh first deputy foreign minister told a group of Tajik officials in Dushanbe that Kazakhstan may have had a change of heart over the hydropower issue (Feb. 4).

“Kazakhstan is ready to consider the Tajik party’s proposals on fulfilling contracts as part of the hydropower stations construction projects,” he said.

This statement may signify a change of approach by Kazakhstan over a major piece of regional politics — the expansion of hydropower.

In short the upstream countries, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, want to build hydropower dams. The downstream countries, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, want to stop this.

These are tricky times for Uzbekistan. Next month, Uzbekistan will also have to deal with a presidential election.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Turkmenistan calls up reservists

>>Website says officers have been sent to training camps>>

FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Increasingly worried by the threat from the Taliban over the border in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan is calling up more and more of its young men for military training.

The chrono-tm.org website reported that officers who form part of the reverse army have been sent on three month long training camps.

This is important because it is more incremental evidence from Turkmenistan, notoriously closed to outsiders, that it is worried about the Taliban. Last year Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered his army to build defence positions inside Afghanistan after a series of attacks on Turkmenistan’s border posts killed several soldiers.

Since then, he has also tried to coordinate a joint strategy to defend Central Asia’s border with Uzbek president Islam Karimov. This sort of bilateral military alliance is virtually unheard of in Central Asia’s fractious neighbourhood.

“These actions on the urgent increase in size and readiness of the Turkmen army demonstrate serious concern the authorities hold on the potential threat from neighbouring Afghanistan and the tension on the Turkmen-Afghan border,” the website reported.

The problem for Central Asian governments is that NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has created a security void. They have said that they worry the Taliban will look to expand into Central Asia.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Azerbaijan imprisons two for spying

FEB. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan jailed two men for spying for Iran, media reported, potentially ramping up tension with its neighbour. Investigators said the two men worked with Iranian intelligence offices in 2013. Relations between the two countries had been dire but have improved over the past year.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Azerbaijan closes state enterprises

>>Pres. Aliyev cuts more government spending>>

FEB. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev closed four state bodies in an effort to cut back on government expenses.

Although government officials avoided justifying the disbandment of the state-run companies Bakielektrikshabaka and Azerenerji, which were tasked with generating electricity in Baku and the regions, as well as the State Land and Cartography Committee and Baku Taxes Department, analysts said that cost-cutting was the clear motivator.

“I can’t recall four state bodies being terminated in one week until now,” an Azerbaijani analyst who wanted to keep his identity a secret, told The Bulletin.

“This is definitely about the oil price drop. The government should have done this before. It kept those bodies because of the easy oil money. Now the money is gone, they have had to disband these bodies.”

Ratings agencies have downgraded Azerbaijan’s sovereign debt rating and Mr Aliyev has also talked about reducing government expenditure. Last month it cancelled a multi-million dollar project to extend internet services to rural parts of the country.

Azerbaijan is reliant on energy to generate its income. BP, its biggest foreign investor, has already laid off 8% of its total workforce in Azerbaijan because of the slip in global prices. Oil has halved in value over the last seven months.

Mirvari Gahramanli, an Azerbaijani oil workers’ rights defender, told a local radio programme that the situation was likely to worsen.

“As oil prices go down, we expect more job cut in oil companies. Also, these people will have less chance to find new job places,” she said.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)