Category Archives: Uncategorised

Alleged coup-plotter in Kazakhstan rejects accusations

OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In his trial for allegedly funding an attempted coup earlier this year in Kazakhstan, Shymkent-based businessman Tokhtar Tuleshov said that although he had given protesters demonstrating against land reforms $100,000, he had not intended to organise an overthrow of the government. A screenshot of Mr Tuleshov, once one of the richest men in Kazakhstan whose wealth was built on brewing beer, showed him in handcuffs looking gaunt while he gave evidence to the court in Astana via a video-link.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Kazakhstan retiriertes Hijab ban

OCT. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan said that it had reiterated a ban on hijabs at school despite a number of complaints from parents since the ban was introduced in January. Kazakhstan is officially a secular states although the vast majority of people are Muslim. Headscarves have also become a more common sight on the streets of Kazakh cities over the past few years.

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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Kazakh oil pipeline operator to allocate its route

OCT. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – KazTransOil, Kazakhstan’s state owned oil pipeline operator, said that the first shipments of oil from Kashagan will be allocated to the Atyrau-Samara pipeline and sold at the Russian port of Ust-Luga, near St. Petersburg. Production at Kashagan re-started last week after years of delay. In October, the consortium plans to pump at 90,000 barrels/day. The Kazakh government is banking on Kashagan to propel it into the Premier League of oil producers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Turkmenistan signs $700m loan deal for TAPI with IDB

OCT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) signed a $700m loan deal for the construction of the so-called TAPI gas pipeline that will pump Turkmen gas to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This is an important deal, not just because of its size, but also because it brings a second major international institution into the project. Turkmenistan has been powering the project, kicking off construction in December, but, up until now, Western companies and financial institutions, other than the Manila- based Asian Development Bank, have steered away from joining it.

Now, though, after months of negotiations, the normally publicity shy Turkmen Bank for Foreign Economic Activities met up with the IDB in Washington DC to agree the loan.

Through its official news website, Turkmenistan lauded the deal.

“The construction of the transnational gas pipeline will ensure the long-term supply of energy in the countries of Southeast Asia and will ensure further economic development in the region,” it said.

For months, Turkmenistan has negotiated with IDB and other international financial institutions for loans and grants. The Asian Development Bank, adviser to the project, agreed a $200m loan in April, when it also said the project was ‘doable’.

Others have been less impressed, calling the project, literally, a pipe- dream that couldn’t be done.

And it is certainly a challenge. The plan is to build a 1,800km pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. The cost of the pipeline is estimated at $10b.

The IDB, which is headquartered in Jeddah, has not commented on the $700m loan for TAPI.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Flights restart between Turkmenistan and Georgia

OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia and Turkmenistan will launch new direct flights in November, linking Tbilisi and Ashgabat. The flights will run twice weekly and will be operated by Turkmenistan Airlines. Since Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s visit to Turkmenistan in 2014, relations between the two countries have improved. Now, the governments want to boost trade beyond oil products which dominate.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Heavy rain floods Azerbaijani capital for the second time this year

BAKU, OCT. 17/18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Heavy rainfall flooded parts of Baku forcing dozens of people to flee their homes and triggering a round of grumbling by locals about a lack of investment into essential infrastructure.

This is important because the popularity of Azerbaijan’s government has fallen sharply over the last couple of years with a drop in living standards linked to a devaluation in the local currency and a squeeze in GDP levels. Earlier this year, virtually unprecedented protests against a drop in living standards swept across a handful of towns in rural Azerbaijan.

This was the second major flood in Baku this year. The ministry of ecology described a flood in September as the worst for 36 years.

Reaction from Baku residents showed the levels of frustration felt by people. Aygun, a 28-year old teacher, said the government should start improving infrastructure in Baku and its environs.

“In the villages around Baku, the roads are all unpaved. So even after a day of rain, we get stuck in the mud,” she said.

And Emin, a 33-year-old consultant, agreed. He blamed corruption and mismanagement for the flooding.

“If they are going to build a new sewage system, they will need millions of manat,” he said. “But I’m not sure they have the money now when the oil prices are down. I don’t even know if they have the will.” He also referenced a cartoon on social media which showed the mayor of Baku, Hajibala Abutalibov, sitting and calmly ignoring the rain.

“I think the message is that it’s always ordinary people who suffer, never the authorities,” Emin said. “And that’s the reality.”

The government declined to comment but a spokesman for Azersu, Azerbaijan’s water operator, said the city’s sewage system needed updating.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Tajikistan increases trade with China

OCT. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan increased its trade with China by 32% in the first nine months of the year, its statistics agency said, highlighting its increased dependency on its near neighbour. Data said that Tajikistan-China trade turnover in this period was $700m, compared to Tajikistan-Russia trade turnover of $764m, which was down by 9.3%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Trump marred in property scandal with Kazakhs

OCT. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Financial Times published a story connecting US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, through a series of property deals, to a Kazakh family accused of money laundering.

In the story, the FT said Mr Trump was involved in a a 2006 property deal with Trump Towers Soho in New York and a company called Bayrock, linked to Viktor Khrapunov.

Mr Khrapunov is a former mayor of Almaty, who is now exiled in Switzerland. Earlier this year, prosecutors in Kazakhstan said they wanted Mr Khrapunov sent back to Kazakhstan to face charges of money laundering. Mr Kharpunov has said he is being hounded because of his opposition to President Nurtulan Nazarbayev.

Neither Mr Trump nor Mr Khrapunov have commented on the FT story.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

High-profile trial takes place in Kazakhstan

OCT. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The trial of a group of 29 men who attacked various targets including a police outpost and killed eight people in June started in Aktobe, in the western Mangistau region, under intense security. The men are accused of having links to radical Islam. The authorities in Kazakhstan have grown increasingly wary of radical Islam.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Uzbek officials sentence islamists

OCT. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in the Ferghana Valley,east Uzbekistan, sentenced five men to up to nine years in prison for setting up an extremist Islamic cell, media reported. Uzbekistan and other countries in Central Asia have been cracking down on radical Islam although human rights groups have said these crack downs are being used as a pretext for curbing basic rights. Reports said that the group was trying to spread extremist propaganda and that they planned to overthrow the government. No more details were given.

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(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)