SEPT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Less than two years after the government of Mikheil Saakashvili moved Georgia’s parliament from the centre of Tbilisi to a new-built glass dome in Kutaisi, 225km away, it is moving back. Parliament held its first session after the summer recess in Tbilis. The two parliaments will now split meetings.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
SEPT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Kazakhstan edged up to 7.1% for the year to end-August, the top of the Central Bank’s bandwidth. The Central Bank aims to keep inflation between 6% and 8%. Central Asia’s economies have been under pressure from the sanctions on Russia. Inflation increased by 0.4% in August.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
SEPT.1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps to prove his virility and good health, Uzbek president Islam Karimov danced with various other officials in public on Independence Day. The 76-year-old Mr Karimov has been the centre of much speculation over his health during the last few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
AUG. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Members of Armenia’s Yezedi community have been holding protests in Yerevan calling for more support to stop the attacks by them in Iraq. Armenia is home to around 50,000 Yezedi, one of the largest groups outside Iraq. Fighters from the Islamic State have been attacking and killing Yezedi members.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
AUG. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Along with Azerbaijan’s economy its real estate market is growing in size and maturity.
Media reports quoted figures released by the Central Bank saying that turnover in the real estate sector had grown by nearly 30% in the first six months of the year compared to the same time last year.
These figures are important, and they generally follow a trend across all the macro-economic data in Azerbaijan, but there is also more to the story.
In an interview with the abc.az news website, Yalchin Osmanov, a real estate manager in Baku, explained how the market was maturing.
“Previously, the market was more chaotic, as far as the prices are concerned,” he said. “Now the prices are distinctly graded by real estate location, quality of buildings and many other factors.”
So, the market is more organised with more transparent prices, but what about the buyers?
Mr Osmanov, again, explained.
“Previously people preferred to purchase real estate by cash, now most people rely on long-term credit or purchase in instalments with an initial contribution and subsequent monthly payments,” he said.
Again, this correlates with a general rise in consumer borrowing in Azerbaijan. The main risk to the economy from the real estate sector is unchecked or poorly planned consumer borrowing. International analysts have already warned Azerbaijan that is needs to rein this in.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
AUG. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a boost for Georgia’s chances of joining NATO, or at least making serious progress towards joining, US vice-president Joe Biden said that he supported the Georgian ambition of joining the Western military alliance, media reported. NATO is due to meet for its annual conference in September.
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(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
AUG. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has signed another major gas supply deal, underlining its growing status as a regional energy super-power. A Turkish-Japanese consortium will build a $1.7b gas plant in Turkmenistan that will process natural gas into high quality fuel for export. Most of Turkmenistan’s natural gas it pumped to China.
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(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
AUG. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Two Tajiks — a civilian and a soldier — died in a shootout with Kyrgyz forces on the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border, the most serious violence along the disputed boundary this year. The row between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan threatens to destabilise the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
AUG. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia voted in Raul Khajimba as its new president. Bucking expectations, Mr Khajimba won the vote in the first round, providing Abkhazia and Russia, its patron, with a show of unity. Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 2008. Georgia described the vote as illegal.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
AUG. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that another independent journalist has been beaten up in Azerbaijan. HRW said that several men attacked Ilgar Nasibov in his office in the Nakhchivan province. Mr Nasibov was left unconscious. HRW linked the attacked to Mr Nasibov’s anti-government stance.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
