Tag Archives: business

Georgian miners end strike

MARCH 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around 1,000 miners at the Tkibuli mine in central Georgia ended their two-week long strike after agreeing a pay rise with Georgia Industrial Group (GIG) which owns the mine. Under the deal, the company GIG will increase miners’ salaries by 7% now and another 3% in April. The miners had wanted a 40% pay rise. Last week they broke into the GIG regional office.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Georgians protest Old Town transformation

FEB. 27 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Anger, frustration, despair. These were the main emotions described by the hundreds of protesters who marched through Tbilisi’s Old Town protesting against plans supported by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former PM and the richest man in the country, to transform the surrounding hills into a series of hotels and entertainment centres.

“It’s unbelievable to me that they can get away with this.” Denis, 28, told The Conway Bulletin, while he was drawing a green NO on the palm of his hand.

“Why don’t they invest the $500m in revitalising our crumbling old town?”

Of course, though, there is another side. Mr Ivanishvili has said that the plans, which would also mean building a new cable car starting in Freedom Square at the heart of the city, will not alter the character of the city and will instead draw thousands more tourists, create much needed income and jobs.

“This project is interesting for our children and tourists. This will be a main tourist attraction. I am able and I want to assist my city,” Bidzina Ivanishvili has previously said.

For now, the developers appear to be winning the argument over the Panorama project and construction work has started, although planners have ruled against other projects.

The issues, though, remain the same across the region. Officials and businessmen, often linked to the political elite, want to develop a part of a city. Frustrated locals, often with few issues to protest legally about, want to stop them.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Turkmenistan constructs gas-to-liquids plant

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) -A consortium formed by Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Turkey’s Renaissance holding has started construction on a $1.7b gas- to-liquids plant in Turkmenistan. The plant will produce petrol from natural gas. When it starts production in 2018, the plant will process around 1.8b cubic metres of gas and produce 600,000 tonnes of petrol.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Azerbaijan’s SOFAZ drops 10%

MARCH 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Assets held by SOFAZ, Azerbaijan’s state oil fund dropped by 9.5% in 2015 to $33.6b. SOFAZ earns cash from oil and gas sales and transit fees. It spends on various social projects and has also been buying up manat to support it against the US dollar. The drop in SOFAZ’s net worth reflects the economic downturn and slump in global oil prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Azerbaijan’s ACG output drops

MARCH 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Output at BP’s Azeri-Chirag-Gunehsli (ACG) dropped in 2015 to 31.3m tonnes of oil, down from 31.5m tonnes of oil in 2014. The ACG field is Azerbaijan’s largest field and the bedrock of its oil output. Azerbaijan has been pressuring BP to maintain ACG output.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Editorial: Kyrgyz and Georgian greens vs developers

MARCH 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Green spaces in cities across Central Asia and the South Caucasus are rare and under threat.

This is the case in Kyrgyzstan, where developers are eyeing up the, admittedly dysfunctional and overgrown Botanical Gardens. Conservationists, however, scored a major victory this week with the visit of PM Temir Sariyev to the Gardens. He spoke about renovating the Gardens and giving the structure a modern look, effectively saying the government wants the Gardens to stay where it is.

This is good and should be applauded. While Bishkek needs more space to build houses for people heading to the city for work, it can find this in other places. The Bishkek Botanical Garden should be left alone.

There is less hope for the surrounding hills of Tbilisi’s Old Town, where former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili wants to build a series of hotels. Locals took to the streets this week to protest against the plan.

Careful consideration needs to be given between creating jobs and attracting business over residents’ access to outdoor areas.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Azerbaijan denies dodging Russian sanctions

MARCH 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry denied that the country was helping Turkey to dodge sanctions imposed by Russia by exporting its tomatoes to Russian cities. Russia had previously said that it was suspicious that the amount of tomatoes heading to Russian had increased by 350% this year. It threatened to retaliate if it proved the tomatoes had originated in Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Tethys seals deal with Kazakhstan’s Oilisol

ALMATY, MARCH 2 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum said it had now sealed a life-saving financing agreement with Kazakhstan-based Olisol for around $32m, after months of doubt regarding the company’s ability to pay debts and continue its Kazakh and Tajik operations.

The two companies initially reached the deal on Feb. 22 and signed it on March 2, giving Tethys shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange a boost.

Under the deal, Tethys will receive $1m of finance and convert the remaining $5.25m debt facility into ordinary shares. If the Toronto Stock Exchange approves Tethys’ issue of 500m new shares, Olisol will then buy around 181m of these, and own a 42% stake in Tethys.

John Bell, Tethys chairman, said: “Tethys now has a strong in-country strategic partner which has committed to becoming a minority share- holder and who will help the company in its objective to supply the growing energy demand in China.”

Mr Bell and three other board members will step down upon completion of the deal.

“We leave the board having steered Tethys into a company focused on capital efficiency and cost discipline, well placed to become a strong platform for future growth,” he said.

Tethys had been in talks with Nostrum Oil & Gas for a takeover last summer. It later rejected the offer and turned to Kazakhstan’s Olisol.

In January, however, Olisol missed a payment scheduled in an earlier agreement putting the deal in jeopardy. The latest deal confirms that Olisol will in fact go ahead with the purchase and become a minority stakeholder in Tethys.

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Iran and Azerbaijan swap oil

FEB. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran and Azerbaijan will resume oil swaps after a five year break, Iran’s official Fars news agency reported quoting Iranian deputy oil minister Rokneddin Javadi. Azerbaijan will deliver oil to Iran’s Caspian Sea port of Neka to supply refineries in the north of the country. In return Iran will give Azerbaijan the equivalent amount of oil at its Persian Gulf ports.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)

Construction work on TAP to start, says Azeri energy ministry

FEB 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azeri energy minister Natig Aliyev said construction works will start later this month on the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the final section of the so-called Southern Gas Corridor that will pump gas from Azerbaijan to Europe.

According to Mr Aliyev, TAP is also expecting to secure financing by the end of April.

“The issues of TAP financing will be completely solved on April 28,” he said.

TAP, a 10b cubic metres pipeline which runs across Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy will link up with the 16b cubic metres Trans- Anatolian Pipeline at the border with Turkey.

BP, Azerbaijan’s state-owned SOCAR, Snam, Fluxys, Enagas and Axpo are all shareholders in TAP.

European customers see the Southern Gas Corridor an alternative to Russian gas supplies and the European Commission has lobbied intensely to ensure that the project is completed by the 2019 deadline.

This week a delegation of the European Commission participated in the second meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council.

Federica Mogherini, vice president of the European Commission, emphasised just how much weight the EU put on the project.

“The Southern Gas Corridor is an essential element in the EU’s Energy Security Strategy,” she said.

“We strongly support the Southern Gas Corridor, and we are determined – and me personally – to do our part to ensure that it is completed on time.”

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(News report from Issue No. 270, published on March 4 2016)