Tag Archives: business

Georgia starts processing law to ban foreigners from owning land

TBILISI, JUNE 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s parliament started processing a law that will forbid foreigners from owning farmland, despite warnings from experts that the ban will stunt the growth of the agriculture sector.

The Georgian Dream government dominates parliament and has said that it is bringing in the law because of the pressure on farmland, although opponents have said that its main aim is to roll back another key policy of former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Levan Davitashvili, the minister of agriculture, said that under the new legislation foreigners would only be allowed to own land if they inherited it, if they married into it or if they already had a permanent residence or an investment permit.

“Land is a particularly limited resource and, with the population growth, land resources are becoming more significant and valuable,” media quoted him as saying. “It is crucial that agricultural land has to be for Georgian citizens and they have to have the property rights.”

When he was in power between 2003 and 2013, Mr Saakahvili had courted Afrikaans to move to Georgia from South Africa, promising them access to good farmland. He followed this up with campaigns to persuade Indian farmers to also move to Georgia too. Essentially he wanted the expertise and investment potential the foreign farmers would bring.

But alongside the expertise, the farmers from South Africa and India generated resentment and frustration from locals, something that the Georgian Dream picked up on and campaigned to change.

After winning a majority of MPs in Parliament in 2012, the Georgian Dream brought in a moratorium to suspend the sale of farmland to foreigners. This moratorium was declared unconstitutional in Dec. 2014 and revoked.

Earlier this month, with the Georgian Dream now dominating Parliament, constitutional amendments were passed banning land sales to foreigners. The new law being discussed, though, will come into play before constitutional amendments.

Phatima Mamardashvili, head of the Agricultural Policy Research Centre, said the ban was negative.

“Our agriculture is so unproductive. We should welcome any investment,” she told The Bulletin. “Foreign investor bring knowledge, capital, new technology. These new limitations are negative. foreign investment flow will be reduced. Georgia will be a less attractive market.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s KMG readies for IPO

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JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company Kazmunaigas is in advanced stages of its preparations for an IPO next year, the FT quoted its CFO Dauren Karabayev as saying. The Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna owns 90% of the company and the Central Bank owns the other 10%. Kazmunaigas will list alongside Air Astana and Kazatomprom next year on the new Astana Stock Exchange. There is also likely to be a secondary foreign listing but it is currently unclear where this will be, although analysts have said that London is a favoured option.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Rosatom to update Armenia nuclear plant

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YEREVAN, JUNE 13 2017 (The Bulletin) — Russian energy company Rosatom said it was going to start repair works on Armenia’s nuclear power station, Metsamor, next year.

The repair works, which Rosatom has said will extend the lifespan of the nuclear plant to 2026, are controversial because both the European Union and the United States have called on the plant to be decommissioned as it is built in an earthquake-prone area.

Several years ago, the European Union offered Armenia $300m to close down the plant, an offer that the Armenian government, possibly under pressure from Russia, declined.

After meeting Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan, Rosatom director- general said: “Armenia’s nuclear facilities will in fact be thoroughly upgraded. Our common goal today is to move clearly on the agreed schedule, observing the unequivocal priority of quality work and safety requirements.”

For Armenia, the Soviet-built nuclear plant is a vital part of its power generation system, producing around 40% of the country’s electricity.

The deal for the maintenance work to extend the lifespan of Metsamor was agreed in 2014, with Russian finance for the project and Rosatom’s role finalised the following year. Russia agreed to lend Armenia $230m to fund the modernisation scheme and also added a $30m grant.

Rosatom has said that the main focus of their work is the modernisation of the plant’s cooling towers, its turbine unit and control and safety systems.

The original plan for the maintenance work was to schedule it for 2017, closing the plant for six months.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakh CB to use Bitcoin

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JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said that it was road testing a Bitcoin application for selling short-term notes. Bitcoin is a controversial technology as it has been associated with money laundering and other crimes. It’s technology, though, has been acclaimed for allowing multiple small trades at a low cost. The Kazakh Central Bank said it was looking at using the technology for selling 100 tenge notes (around a third of a US dollar).

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Uzbekistan to build fruit farm

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JUNE 13 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev officially kicked off construction of a fruit farm in the Andijan region of the Ferghana Valley, highlighting a drive by the authorities to increase exports to neighbours. Media reported that the 615-hectare project will cost $24m and be operational by the end of the year.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Azerbaijan allies with Costa Rica

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JUNE 6 2017 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan appeared to be grooming Costa Rica as an ally by calling for bilateral ties between the two countries, which lie thousands of miles apart and have no natural connections. Costa Rican media reported that the two countries “chancellors” had met and exchanged pleasantries. Reports said that the Azerbaijan Petroleum Fund was interested in boosting investments in Costa Rica and that Costa Rica was going to open an embassy in Baku.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Armenia plans property privatisation

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YEREVAN, JUNE 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s government plans to sell 47 state-owned properties, including post offices, Yerevan’s bus station and a football stadium, to raise an estimated $75m.

Armenia, like the rest of the region, has been trying to pull out of an economic downturn linked to a drop in oil prices and a recession in Russia. The data this year has showed an improvement but the government still needs to raise more cash, giving foreign investors the chance to buy into property in Armenia.

The head of the state property management department, Arman Sahakyan, said the government had tried and failed to privatise half the properties in 2006/7.

“The companies that will be put up for privatisation, are not managed effectively, they face problems, that’s why we included them in the list in order to ensure their effective management,” he was quoted by media as saying.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Rail links China and Iran via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

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JUNE 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Railway container services linking China with Iran via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are due to begin this month after the sides agreed various deals in May, the Railway Gazette reported. It said that the 10,300km journey would take around 14 days rather than 40 days by sea.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Shanghai buys into Kazakh capital

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JUNE 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Shanghai’s Stock Exchange said that it had agreed a deal to buy 25.1% of Astana’s planned new bourse. The Astana Stock Exchange is planned to open by the end of the year as the centrepiece of a new Astana International Financial Centre. It wants to attract foreign companies and has already said that its national companies — Air Astana, Kazmunaigas and Kazatompom — will list part of their companies on the Astana Stock Exchange.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Azerbaijan plans logistics base

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JUNE 7 2017 (The Bulletin) — Following the trend for centres dedicated to increasing trade and boosting logistics across the Central Asia and South Caucasus region, Azerbaijan said that it was going to create a tax-free zone at its Caspian Sea port of Alyat. Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus have been rushing to position themselves as the natural link between Asia and Europe. Taleh Ziyadov, director general of Baku International Sea Trade Port said he wanted to create a “five star hub” at Alyat, which is 65km from Baku.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)