OCT. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank launched a money laundering investigation into the bank of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili two weeks after he pledged to set up an opposition party. Police seized millions of dollars from Mr Ivanishvili’s Cartu Bank. He said the raid was politically motivated.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 62, published on Oct. 25 2011)
MAY 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia and the other former Soviet states endorsed current Kazakh Central Bank chief, Grigory Marchenko, to replace Dominique Strauss-Khan as head of the IMF. The IMF chief has traditionally been a European but countries from outside Europe are pressurising the IMF to pick an outsider.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 41, published on May 24 2011)
APRIL 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In contrast to the cool reception he received when he visited the European Union in Brussels in January, China laid on smiles and a guard of honour for Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s state visit on April 19/20.
Mr Karimov was in Beijing to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and to sign deals worth billions of dollars including an agreement to double the amount of gas Uzbekistan sells to China. The Uzbek state news website uza.uz said the deals were worth $5b and that Chinese banks had also agreed to lend $1.5b to 4 Uzbek banks for joint-ventures.
The numbers underscore just how much power and impact China can buy in Central Asia. Mr Hu hosted a similar visit to Beijing by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in February.
Over the last few years China has steadily bought up assets across the region, subverting the influence of both Russia and the West.
For the Central Asia states, China allure is not just its wealth, its proximity and its hunger for oil and gas. For now, at least, China is also less troublesome to deal with.
Former colonial power Russia has quarrelled with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan over the price of gas and the West has previously condemned human rights abuses, such as the shooting in 2005 of around 500 people at a protest in eastern Uzbekistan. China, instead, talks of jointly defeating terrorism, is welcoming and lays on the charm.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 37, published on April 25 2011)
DEC. 3 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — British bank RBS sold its 82.35% stake in its Uzbek subsidiary to the Korean Development Bank (KDB) for an undisclosed amount. News reports said that on Dec. 31 2009 the RBS subsidiary held assets worth around $365m. KDB will merge the unit with its subsidiary to become the biggest foreign bank in Uzbekistan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 18, published on Dec. 6 2010)
NOV. 26 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh bank Nurbank said it wants to raise $900m in a share issue. In May 2010, the daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Dariga, and her son sold a 56% share in the bank through university professor Sofia Sarsenova. Ms Sarsenova now owns over 70% of the bank.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 17, published on Nov. 29 2010)
NOV. 2 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan is considering introducing regulations to require foreign companies working in Kazakhstan to deposit 35% of their savings in Kazakh banks, Berik Kamaliyev, deputy minister of trade and industry, told a government meeting. He said the aim was to bolster the Kazakh banking sector.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 14, published on Nov. 8 2010)
OCT. 28 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underdeveloped banking systems, a high rate of non-performing loans and inflexible exchange rates are potential brakes on economic recovery in Central Asia and the south Caucasus, the IMF said.
With their reliance on neighbouring Russia and global commodity prices, the global financial downturn in 2009 was tough for the economies of Central Asia and the south Caucasus. This year, with Russia and commodity prices recovering and the impact of domestic fiscal stimulus taking hold, the IMF predicts steady economic growth throughout the regions, other than for Kyrgyzstan.
Remittances from workers in Russia, so important for the poorer Central Asian and Caucasus countries, grew by 26% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
The IMF said that inflation was generally under control at around 8%, although in Uzbekistan it was nearer 11%. For the IMF, the regions’ banking sectors are a concern. In Kazakhstan, the IMF pointed out, non-performing loans total nearly 26% of all loans.
IMF’s GDP % growth figures (2010 and 2011 are predictions):
Armenia +13.7 (2007); +6.9 (2008); -14.2 (2009); +4.0 (2010); +4.6 (2011)
Azerbaijan +25.0 (2007); +10.8 (2008); +9.3 (2009); +4.3 (2010); +1.8 (2011)
Georgia +12.3 (2007); +2.3 (2008); -3.9 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +4.0 (2011)
Kazakhstan +8.9 (2007); +3.2 (2008); +1.2 (2009); +5.4 (2010); +5.1 (2011)
Kyrgyzstan +8.5 (2007); +8.4 (2008); +2.3 (2009); -3.5 (2010); +7.1 (2011)
Tajikistan +7.8 (2007); +7.9 (2008); +3.4 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +5.0 (2011)
Turkmenistan +11.6 (2007); +10.5 (2008); +6.1 (2009); +9.4 (2010); +11.5 (2011)
Uzbekistan +9.5 (2007); +9.0 (2008); +8.1 (2009); +8.0 (2010); +7.0 (2011)
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
