Tag Archives: business

Iveco buses arrive in Kazakh capital

MAY 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Italy-based bus maker Iveco shipped 210 buses to Astana, part of a programme to upgrade the city’s fleet ahead of EXPO-2017. Iveco said that the new buses will join 358 Iveco buses already operating in Astana. The buses are manufactured at a factory in France and partly re-assembled at a plant in Kostanay, north Kazakhstan. EXPO- 2017 is giving the Kazakh economy a boost.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

UAE to develop chemicals in Kazakhstan

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MAY 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — UAE’s Mubadala Development Company and Kazakhstan’s United Chemical Company agreed to develop a chemical complex in the west of Kazakhstan that will produce 800,000 tonnes of polyethylene each year. Kazakh deputy energy minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev told the media that the plant is planned for the western Atyrau region. Kazakhstan and the UAE have been developing bilateral ties. Polyethylene is the plastic, primarily used to produce plastic bags and plastic bottles.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Construction of Kazakh light railway to begin

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MAY 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — After years of delay and prevarications, a consortium of Chinese companies will begin construction of the Astana Light Railway at the end of this month. The $1.8b light railway system, it is planned, will link the airport with various sites in the new sector of Astana including the planned Astana International Finance Centre, the government sector and the new railway station. According to the Astana Times, the network will have 18 stations and a capacity of 150,000 people.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Kazakh CB bans Delta Bank

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MAY 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan Central Bank banned Delta Bank, the 14th biggest bank in the country, from opening up any new customer accounts until mid- June because it had missed a series of payment deadlines. Kazakhstan’s banking sector has been under increased pressure because of an economic downturn linked to a drop in oil prices and a recession in Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Bank of Georgia issues first ever lari denominated debt

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TBILISI, MAY 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Bank of Georgia issued 500m lari of debt ($200m), the first corporate bond denominated in Georgia’s national currency.

Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said that the issue was a major victory for Georgia and showed that investors had confidence in the national economy and the national currency.

“International investors trust our country and our national currency. It is a momentous event, and I would like to congratulate everyone,” he said.

The Bank of Georgia debt is due to mature in 2020 and has a coupon of 11%.

Fitch the ratings agency gave the Bank of Georgia debt issue a BB- rating and said that this “reflects the bank’s adequate asset quality, reasonable capitalisation, sound profitability metrics and stable funding profile.”

Bank of Georgia has been listed on the London stock exchange since 2012. Its stock is now trading at 3,744p, an all-time high, against a price of around 3,000p in January.

For investors in the West, the Bank of Georgia debt issue not only gives them exposure to the Georgian financial sector but also to the lari. It has performed well this year, currently trading at 2.41/$1 compared to 2.76/$1 at the start of the year.

Much of this strengthening has been linked to a general uplift for Emerging Market stock and currencies as oil prices have stabilised, but some of it is specific to Georgia. Western analysts rate Georgia’s economy as the most diversified in the region and best equipped to cope with shocks.

Bank of Georgia and local rival TBC are the only banks in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to be listed on the LSE.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Tourist number rise in Armenia

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MAY 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tourist numbers in Armenia have risen by 25% between January and April, media reported by quoting the chairperson of the economy ministry’s tourism committee, Zarmine Zeytuntsyan. She said the number of tourists from China, Iran and Russia had risen.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Armenia and Iran sign farm deal

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MAY 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia and Iran signed a deal to jointly develop their agricultural potential, highlighting just how improved relations between the two neighbours has become. The joint development will focus on fighting pests together and quarantines. Trade between Iran and Armenia has increased as both countries have steadily tried to attract new allies.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Kazakh uranium enrichment plant to be operational by 2020

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MAY 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s first uranium enrichment facility will become operational by 2019, an official at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant told Reuters. The project is a joint venture with China, which will take delivery of the enriched uranium for its nuclear power stations. Kazakhstan produces 40% of the world’s uranium but doesn’t yet have an enrichment facility.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Stock market: Georgia’s TBC, Kaz Minerals

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MAY 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Profit at Georgia’s London-listed TBC Bank rose by two-thirds to nearly 100m lari ($40m) highlighting the increasingly upbeat assessment of the Georgian banking sector.

The bumper results also pushed up TBC’s share price to an all-time high of 1,695p. This is nearly an 18% increase from the start of the year and is an increase of roughly 65% from when TBC listed in August.

The main driver of this improvement has been an overall strengthening of Georgia’s economy. The region has been hit hard by a downturn in economic conditions, linked to a collapse in oil prices and also a recession in Russia.

TBC’s main rival, the London- listed Bank of Georgia, has also been hitting similar all-time highs. As well as boosting its stock price, Bank of Georgia also gain a PR boost when it issued 500m lari debt, the first corporate issue in lari.

Elsewhere, KAZ Minerals has been performing well. It’s been yoyo-ing around and has regained much of the ground lost in March. KAZ Minerals is a major copper producer and its share price follows copper prices to a large extent.

It is now trading at 506p, up from 430p at the beginning of the month but down from highs of 589p hit in mid-February.

KAZ Minerals used to by known as Kazakmys, which was linked by transparency campaigners to Kazakh Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev.Stock market: Georgia’s TBC, Kaz minerals

New rules increase telecoms cost in Kazakhstan

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MAY 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Under new rules brought in to crack down on potential terrorism, telecoms companies operating in Kazakhstan will have to store details of all calls and other communications for up to two years, media reported. Rights campaigners said that the new rules were designed to crackdown on civil liberties. Telecoms analysts said that the new rules would increase prices for consumers.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)