DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhs are becoming more comfortable paying for products on their credit and debit cards, the research website ranking.kz said. It said that for the year to the end of October transactions using either credit or debit cards had risen by 22%. This increase should aid consumer spending.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia increased the number of military planes at its base outside Bishkek, the eurasianet.org website reported. Quoting Russian media, eurasianet.org said Russia had moved five SU-25SM ground attack jets to Kant, the airbase. The US quit its airbase outside Bishkek earlier this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances from Russia have declined by around 6%, the head of the Tajik Central Bank, Abdujabbor Shirinov, told the IMF. Western media groups and analysts have said that the decline in income from Tajiks working in Russia and sending cash back home — a vital funding flow — had been greater.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia announced new rules to try and prevent people moving through its territory en route to fight for the radical Islamic State group in Syria, media reported. On the same day, media reported another Georgian citizen from the Pankisi Gorge that borders Chechnya had been killed in Syria.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US Peace Corps programme, which sends young Americans to teach English around the world, left Azerbaijan. Depending on who you believe, the US either withdrew the programme because it decided it was no longer needed, or the Azerbaijani authorities threw Peace Corps out as Washington-Baku relations deteriorated.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – As part of its modernisation scheme, Uzbekistan Airways has said it wants to sell three Airbus A-310 and three BAE Systems RJ-85 passenger aircrafts, media reported. The combined sale is worth nearly $50m. Uzbekistan Airways has been looking to upgrade its fleet throughout the year.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a treaty to join the Russia- led Eurasian Economic Union in 2015. The vote rubber stamps earlier decisions taken by President Serzh Sargsyan. Alongside Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are members of the Customs Union which will morph into the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The amount of transactions completed online in Azerbaijan more than doubled in the first 11 months of the year to 5.6m manat, media reported. The statistic is an indicator that Azerbaijan’s economy is maturing.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan continues to attempt to increase its appeal to investors, even as its investment climate looks difficult — some would say too difficult — to all but the state-affiliated companies of its political allies.
During a recent meeting with UN Secretary-General for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Mukhisa Kituyiin in Geneva, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirodzhiddin Aslov asked UNCTAD to conduct an independent study of the country’s investment policies.
With the country’s debt at $2b according to the ministry of finance, the need for a foreign capital injection is clear. Tajikistan’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business study is 167th of 189 countries with lousy scores for categories such as ‘paying taxes’ and ‘getting electricity’. Both local and foreign businessmen complain of state corruption.
Tajikistan has also applied for a sovereign credit rating for 2015. When the agencies release their verdicts next year, it could make for interesting reading.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh government plans to start regulating fuel against prices in neighbouring Russia, media reported. Kazakhstan imports a third of its fuel from Russia and has blamed price disparities and the downturn in the Russian economy for shortages.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
