Category Archives: Uncategorised

Turkmenistan strengthens border

OCT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – It appears from news reports that Turkmenistan is continuing to bolster its defences against possible Taliban attacks. The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that its correspondent in northern Afghanistan had reported construction work along the border.

“A source for Azatlyk (RFE/RL’s local service) in northern Afghanistan said Turkmenistan has increased its troop strength in several places along the border with Afghanistan recently and in the area where three of Turkmenistan’s border guards were killed in February the border guards have been replaced by spetsnazi, elite commandos,” RFE/RL reported.

“The source added that some areas now have fences, three rows deep, blocking access from the Afghan side.”

Central Asian countries have previously voiced concern that the Taliban would spread northwards after NATO had withdrawn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Tesco ditches Uzbek cotton

OCT. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tesco, the world’s second largest retailer, has signed up to an agreement not to buy cotton from Uzbekistan because of concerns over its use of child labour to pick it, media reported.

The timing will particularly hurt Uzbekistan as Tesco’s move comes on the eve of the annual Uzbekistan cotton trade show on Oct. 14. This set piece event is supposed to showcase Uzbek cotton — one of the country’s biggest exports.

The problem for Uzbekistan is that its use of deploying school children, teachers and doctors to harvest the cotton has made buying it taboo.

“Markets for Uzbek cotton sourced with forced labour continue to diminish as consumers become more aware of the egregious human rights violations that occur during the Uzbek cotton harvest, with over 4m Uzbek citizens forced to pick cotton under threat of penalty,” the advocacy group Responsible Source Network (RSN) said on its website after announcing that Tesco had agreed to support it.

To an extent, RSN is correct. More and more Western retailers are looking to stop buying clothes made with Uzbek cotton. Uzbekistan last year also allowed the United Nation’s International Labour organisation (ILO) to tour the country at harvest season and inspect reports of child labour.

It’s likely, campaigners have said, that child labour is still used in Uzbekistan but this has been reduced over the past few years.

And, there is a flip side. With Western companies trying to stop using Uzbek cotton, Uzbekistan has looked east to potential clients who are less squeamish about human rights. Bangladesh has become a key importer of Uzbek cotton.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Consumerism grows in Kazakhstan

ALMATY/Kazakhstan, OCT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The uniformed women with bright orange hair posted at the entrance of the Soviet-era exhibition hall in Almaty, the Palace of the Republic, were stern and explicit. Nobody was allowed in.

Behind them it was clear why.

Waves of women in turquoise suits were exiting the building, some in pairs and some in small groups.

And at the side of the Palace of the Republic, a fleet of new, shiny cars were parked, all painted an almost metallic pale pink.

The suits. The impeccably made up women wearing them. The cars. Could it be? Yes, it could. A Mary Kay convention is in town.

Mary Kay, the American cosmetics company founded by US businesswoman Mary Kay Ash back in 1963, has aggressively expanded in a range of new markets. By the looks of it this includes Kazakhstan.

The uniform tailored suits are a hallmark of Mary Kay saleswomen, and the cars are a reference to the founder’s pink Cadillac, which has become a trademark for top salespeople.

Convention participants, mainly middle-aged, filtered out of the Palace of the Republic. Some posed in front of the brutalist Hotel Kazakhstan just adjacent to the Palace; others made their way via the subway under Dostyk Avenue to Kimep Grill, a canteen in the basement of the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, & Strategic Research. Here the food is cheap and decent and the queues are long.

The mostly ethnic Kazakh students seemed wildly amused at the uniformed women in their midst. One laughed and then turned to her friend: “They’re all dressed the same.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Kyrgyzstan wants Bakiyev extradited

OCT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s prosecutor-general asked Britain’s visiting minister of state for civil justice Edward Faulks to extradite the son of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, media reported. Mr Bakiyev was overthrown in a coup in 2010. Since then, both he and his son, Maxim, have been found guilty of various economic crimes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Russia’s PM visits Armenia

OCT. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian PM Dmitri Medvedev visited Armenia two days before it officially signed up to become the fourth member of the Russia-led Customs Union/Eurasian Economic Union. Mr Medvedev was visiting an agriculture exhibition in Yerevan but, more importantly, his visit will be seen as another show of support for Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

IMF downgraded Azerbaijan economic growth

OCT. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The IMF downgraded its economic growth figures for Azerbaijan to 4.5% this year because of the impact of sanctions on Russia, media reported. Earlier, the IMF had predicted growth of 5% for Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s economy is less impacted by Russia’s economy than other former Soviet states.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Tajikistan raises interest rates

OCT. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank increased its key interest rate by 1% to 6.9%, its highest level in two years, to try and dampen rapidly rising inflation.

Like other countries in former Soviet Central Asia, Tajikistan’s economy is suffering from the knock-on effect of sanctions on Russia. Remittances from workers based in Russia generate around half of Tajikistan’s GDP. This revenue stream has dried up since the sanctions dampened Russia’s economy.

But Tajikistan is also battling rising inflation. Inflation measured over 5% for the first eight months of this year, nearly double the rate for last year.

The main problem for Tajikistan is that as well as weakening remittance flows from Russia, importing goods has become more expensive.

Rising inflation and a weakening economy is a nightmare combination for Tajikistan.

This was also the second interest rate increase by Tajikistan this year. In May it boosted interest rates by 1.1% to 5.9%. Previously it had cut rates on eight consecutive occasions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

Moodys rates Azerbaijan’s economy

OCT. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Moodys, the ratings agency, said Azerbaijan’s foreign investments, its low government debt and oil generated fiscal surpluses would shield its economy from shocks. The report highlights why Azerbaijan’s economy is stronger than others in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

CU bolsters Tajik security

OCT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting of CIS heads of states in Minsk, Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon said Belarus and Armenia had already given it aid to bolster security along its border with Afghanistan. Tajikistan wants to join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union which counts Belarus and Kazakhstan as members. Armenia is joining in 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)

US criticises Kyrgyz anti-gay law

OCT. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United States criticised moves by Kyrgyzstan to make so-called “gay propaganda” illegal as being harmful to democracy. The laws are similar to those introduced by Russia. The US embassy put out a rare harshly worded statement which said: “Sweeping limits on civil society harm democracy.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)