Category Archives: Uncategorised

Karimov Foundation opens in Uzbekistan

NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The youngest daughter of former Uzbek leader Lola Karimova- Tillyaeva and her widowed mother, Tatyana, said that they had founded the Islam Karimov Foundation to promote his legacy. The Foundation, likely to be based on a museum and library, will be as controversial as Karimov was. He was reviled by human rights groups for being a dictator who crushed all dissent.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

France’s Veolia beats rivals to win $800 contract for Armenia’s water

NOV. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — French utility company Veolia will become the near-monopoly water distribution and sewage management operator in Armenia, after beating European rivals to the €800m ($845m) contract.

Veolia, one of the biggest water and waste management companies in the world with around 175,000 employees and revenues of over $30b/year, already controls Yerevan Djur, a local utility company that supplies water and sewage services to the capital. Through this entity, Veolia already employs 1,200 workers in Armenia and, under the new 15 year contract, it will become one of the country’s largest employers.

Veolia’s management hailed the tender victory as a major achievement.

It beat French rival Saur, Italy’s Acea and a German-Russian consortium for the contract.

“This success is exemplary: it is the result of a joint effort by Veolia’s teams who have managed to capitalise on the experience and professionalism of the Group’s employees in Yerevan and to apply the best practices developed by a network of experts working in over 40 countries,” Malika Ghendouri, Veolia’s vice president of Central and Eastern Europe, said in a statement.

Armenia doesn’t have natural resources on the scale of its neighbours Azerbaijan or even Georgia, making water management one of the most lucrative sectors for Western companies.

Saur had managed four other major water utility companies in Armenia but will now relinquish control to Veolia at the start of 2017.

Several international financial institutions, among which the EBRD and the European Investment Bank, pledged to support Veolia’s infrastructure work in Armenia, which the company forecast at $200m in the next four years.

One of the reasons that Veolia won the contract was its apparent drive to improve water services across the region. Armenia’s Soviet-era infrastructure needs updating.

Allegations of corruption have marred the privatisation of Armenia’s water utilities since the early 2000s. The World Bank, which masterminded the privatisation, dismissed the allegations in 2007 and 2008.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Kazakh athlete loses medals

NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ilya Ilyn, the pin-up of Kazakhstan’s Olympic team and the only Kazakh athlete to have won two gold medals, was stripped of his weightlifting victories in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the London 2012 Olympics because his blood samples failed a drugs retest. Mr Ilyn is a major celebrity in Kazakhstan. Several other Kazakh weightlifters are also accused of doping.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Armenia to issue second bond

NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia plans to issue its second ever eurobond by 2019 or 2020, finance minister Arshaluys Margaryan told Reuters. Mr Margaryan did not specify the size of the eurobond. Armenia issued its first eurobond in 2013. It was dubbed the Kardashian bond, after Armenian- American actress Kim Kardashian, and was valued at $700m.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Georgia-Russia mend ties via the Orthodox Church

NOV. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II flew to Moscow for a week of meetings with senior members of the Russian Orthodox Church, hooked around the 70th birthday of its leader Patriarch Kirill (Nov. 20).

Visits by Patriarch Ilia to Moscow are important because they act as an unofficial diplomatic channel between Moscow and Tbilisi. At times, such as immediately after a war between the two side in August 2008, this channel has been vital and the only way the two sides were able to communicate.

On his arrival in Moscow, Patriarch Ilia appeared to recognise the importance of these meetings.

“Georgian and the Russian Orthodox Churches have great importance for our countries and people. The relationship between us ought to be better than it is now, and we should do everything to improve the relationship between the political figures of our countries. I think we can do this. We need each other and we should help each other,” he was quoted by media as saying.

He plays an important role in domestic Georgian politics, often intervening to mediate in disputes or set the tone in national debates.

Patriarch Ilia is the highest ranking public figure from Georgia to have travelled to Moscow since the 2008 war. On a trip in 2013, he also met with Russian president Vladimir Putin. It is unclear whether he will meet Mr Putin on this trip, which is dominated by meetings with various Russian Orthodox officials.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Georgian PM unveils new cabinet

NOV. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili unveiled his new cabinet following the Georgian Dream coalition’s parliamentary election victory last month with only one major change. Dimitri Kumsishvili, the former economy minister, has been promoted to the more important position of finance minister. Mr Kumsishvili is one of a number of cabinet ministers who used to work at Bidzina Ivanizhvili’s Kartu bank. Mr Ivanishvili is the power behind the Georgian coalition. Kakha Kaladze, who under election rules, formerly resigned his ministerial position to fight for re-election in parliament, was reappointed as energy minister.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Armenia to cut energy consumption

NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia plans to cut its consumption of gas, electricity and coal by 38% and boost its electricity generation from renewable sources, deputy energy minister Hayk Harutyunyan told local media. The ambitious plan appears to be another attempt by cash-strapped countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to cut expensive energy consumption. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have both announced plans to cut back on electricity-generation plans. Kyrgyzstan has also hinted it wants to use more green energy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Uzbek telecom expands coverage

NOV. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s state-owned telecoms operator UMS said it has expanded coverage of its 3G network to the provinces of Ferghana and Namangan. UMS installed 56 new base stations that will boost coverage both in the cities and in the rural areas. Central Asian countries have invested heavily in improving mobile connectivity across their territory.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

Turkmen President’s son wins parliamentary seat

NOV. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The son of Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, has won a seat in the country’s parliament, local television reported, a possible first step towards inheriting the presidency from his father.

Turkmen TV broadcast Serdar Berdymukhamedov being congratulated after winning a by-election three days earlier. He had previously worked in a senior management position in the foreign ministry.

Little is known about Serdar Berdymukhamedov. Eurasianet ran a story earlier this year which said that as well as holding down government jobs he also owns a “a cotton-spinning plant, a mineral water factory and a chain of hotels”.

Earlier this year, Mr Berdymukhamedov tweaked the country’s constitution so that he could remain in power for life. He also extended the length of presidential terms to seven years from five years.

Succession has become an enduring issue in Central Asia. In September, Islam Karimov, who had ruled Uzbekistan for 25 years died. His daughter had been his preferred successor but was sidelined two years ago, paving the way for PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev to take over. In Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev dodged the issue of a family succession during an interview with Bloomberg this week.

Mr Berdymukhamedov took over in 2007 as Turkmenistan’s president from Saparmurat Niyazov. The only country in the region which has successfully completed a power handover within a family is in Azerbaijan, where Ilham Aliyev became president in 2003 after his father Heydar.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)

IMF downgrades Georgia’s economic growth

NOV. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The IMF downgraded Georgia’s economic growth to 2.7% this year, from an earlier estimate of 3.4%. The downgrade was due, it said to a slightly bigger than expected drop in remittances and exports. It also downgraded growth in 2017 to 4% from 5.2%. Like the rest of the region, a recession in Russia and falling currency values have hit Georgia’s economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 306, published on Nov. 25 2016)