Tag Archives: Armenia

Iranian president Rouhani tours Kazakhstan, building support for Iran’s trade routes

ALMATY, DEC. 21/22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iranian Leader Hassan Rouhani toured Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, a tour that underlines Iran’s ambitions in the region.

Western sanctions on Iran were eased this year, triggering a wave of enthusiasm of a potential return of Western business but, aside from a handful of high-profile deals, this has failed to materialise. Analysts have said that, instead, Iran and Mr Rouhani have turned their focus on Central Asia where they have built up strong business and economic ties over the past few years.

This was highlighted in a statement released by Mr Rouhani’s press team before he left Tehran. He said that Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan formed a vital part of Iran’s trade corridors.

“We will gain access to Europe and the Black Sea through Armenia, and to the northern and eastern countries through Kazakhstan,” he said.

“Also, China is seeking to connect its railway to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran through Kyrgyzstan”.

And positive bilateral relations were on show throughout Mr Rouhani’s trip. Speaking after his meeting in Astana with Mr Rouhani, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev said: “An agreement was reached to strengthen the political influence of the two countries within the framework of international organizations such as the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, SCO.”

The issue of the UN is particularly important as Kazakhstan is starting two years as one of the non-permanent Security Council members.

Prior to landing in Kazakhstan, Mr Rouhani had visited Armenia. It has developed ties based on swapping its gas for Armenia’s electricity.

From Kazakhstan, Mr Rouhani travelled to Bishkek where he received public support from president Almazbek Atambayev for Iranian membership of the Russia and China led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Iran applied to join the group in 2008 but Western sanctions slowed its application. Now those sanctions have been lifted, Iranian membership has been talked of again.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)

IBRD extends loan to Armenian tourism

DEC. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s parliament ratified a $55m loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) aimed at developing the country’s tourist sector. Much of the loan has been earmarked for Armenia’s regions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)

Armenia’s economic activity rises

DEC. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economic activity index recorded a rise of 2.3% in November compared to the same month in 2015, the state statistics agency said, suggesting some positive news after a slew of poor economic headlines. The biggest risers were the service sectors and industrial output which recorded rises of 6.8% and 7.8.%. The biggest drop was in construction, a key economic driver in Armenia. It fell more than 10%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)

WB cuts growth targets in Armenia

DEC. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Bank revised down its growth estimates for Armenia to 0.4% from 2.8% earlier this year because of a sharp economic contraction in the past six months. Gohar Gyulumyan, the World Bank’s senior economist in Armenia, said that growth had been strong in the first half of the year but had fallen off since July. Growth in 2016 would be 2-2.5%, she said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

EBRD gives loan to Armenian bank

DEC. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD sent a $10m loan to Ameriabank, Armenia’s largest bank by assets, to promote credit to women-led small and medium enterprises. The EBRD also sent a $3b loan to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, one of the largest lenders to Armenia’s agriculture sector. The loan is part of the EBRD’s Women in Business programme, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)f

Armenian economy shrinks

NOV. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economy shrunk by 2.6% in the third quarter of the year, the country’s statistics agency said, confirming the poor economic sentiment in the country. In the third quarter of 2015 Armenia’s economy had grown by over 3%. Armenia is reliant on Russia which is suffering from a harsh economic downturn, linked to a fall in oil prices that has tipped it into recession.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)

Fertiliser corruption unfolds in Armenia

DEC. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s State Commission on the Protection of Economic Competition said the government had wasted millions of dollars after it gave a contract in 2012 to a single company called Berriutyun to supply fertilisers across the country. There had previously been multiple suppliers. The commission said Berriutyun, linked to a former finance minister, had artificially increased prices by 36%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)

Chemical plant in Armenia declares bankruptcy

NOV. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Armenia declared the Nairit chemical plant bankrupt after it failed to pay back its $2.5m electricity bill to Electricity Networks of Armenia, the national distributor. Nairit halted operations in 2010, as its rubber and latex plant became unprofitable. A recent audit said that a $300m investment would be necessary to resume operations and the World Bank recommended the plant be declared bankrupt. British- registered Rhinoville Properties has owned 90% of the plant since 2006. The Armenian government owns 10%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)

MTS revenues in Armenia and Turkmenistan drop

NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian telecoms company MTS published its first quarterly report after discontinuing operations in Uzbekistan, posting a 1.3% decline in revenues in Q3 across its operations in the former Soviet Union, compared to the same period last year. In rouble terms, revenues in Armenia were down 19% to 2.1b roubles and in Turkmenistan they fell by 17% to 1.2b roubles.

ENDS

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

Armenia buys Russian missiles

NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia has bought a number of Iskander-M missiles from Russia, Armenia president Serzh Sargsyan told Russian media. The Iskander-M missile is one of Russia’s most advanced missile systems. Mr Sargsyan said that Armenia had been obligated to by the missile system to balance against the threat posed by Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan are still officially at war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

ENDS

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