APRIL 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s government said that an agreement signed in 2011 with Turkmenistan, Iran and Oman to establish what it described as a Central Asia-Persian Gulf Trade Corridor had finally become operational. The deal was agreed to boost trade between the regions. Some analysts, though, have derided the deal as window-dressing.
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(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)
APRIL 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian oil and gas company Lukoil said it had started construction work at the $3.3b Kandym Gas Processing Complex in south-west Uzbekistan, which will include gas wells, pipelines, compressor stations, storage facilities and a 80MW gas fired power plant. Lukoil will use gas from six fields it is developing with state-owned Uzbekneftegaz to fuel the new plant. Hyundai Engineering will supply the equipment for the plant
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian gold miner Polymetal said its output declined by 4% in the first quarter of the year to 260,000 ounces of gold equivalent, also due to a sharp decline in its Kazakh operations. At the Varvara gold project in north-western Kazakhstan, Polymetal produced 14,000 ounces of gold, 32% less than in Q1 2015, due to lower grade stockpiles. Polymetal said its Kyzyl gold project in north-eastern Kazakhstan is on track to start production this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Kazakhstan’s largest steelmaker, said it will appoint Paramjit Kahlon, the former CEO of an ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ukraine, as its new CEO in May. ArcelorMittal Temirtau has laid off thousands of workers over the past few years as it tries to deal with low steel prices triggered by a glut of supply.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A boost from the mining sector helped Tajikistan’s industrial production to grow 13% in the first quarter of the year. Total industrial production stood at almost 3b somoni ($400m), compared to around 2.6b somoni ($450m at the time) in the first quarter of 2015. The mining sector grew by 74% year-on-year.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s anti-monopoly agency said it will monitor possible unjustified price increases by Gazprom Neft Asia for its petrol. The subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom owns and operates filling stations throughout the country. Reports had shown possible price increases of 7-10% for Gazprom’s petrol from April 1.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian businessman Cezar Chocheli will enter a joint venture with an unnamed Chinese company to build a $100m cement plant in Senaki, around 250km west of Tbilisi. The new factory, will employ around 500 people. Investors expect construction to begin in June.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR said it is eyeing expansion in both Ukraine and Turkey’s petrol distribution sector. This week, SOCAR said it is opening eight petrol station in Kiev. Last week SOCAR said it was in talks to buy OMV Petrol Ofisi, the Turkish subsidiary of Austria’s OMV.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Turkmen energy ministry said it plans to produce 450,000 tonnes of compressed natural gas (CNG) this year, betting on the high demand for fuel in neighbouring countries. The Turkmen government doesn’t generally publish data on its CNG production, but the tone of the release showed that this might be an increase compared to last year.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
APRIL 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A regional economic downturn has dented Armenia’s imports in 2015, data from the state Statistics Committee showed. Car imports shrank by 38% to 27,300 last year, compared to 2014. Oil imports shrank by 8%. A region-wide currency crisis has affected purchasing power in the South Caucasus and Armenia’s trade numbers reflect this.
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(News report from Issue No. 277, published on April 22 2016)
