JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in west Kazakhstan handed the Karachaganak oil and gas project a fine of 7.3b tenge (roughly $40m) for excessive flaring, media reported quoting a court statement. Karachaganak’s shareholders are BG Group, Eni, Chevron, Lukoil and Kazmunaigas.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh carmakers doubled domestic production in May compared to April, according to the Association of the Kazakh Automobile Business, but overall sales are still lower this year.
Car production and demand are a decent weathermast for checking the health of economies. Kazakhstan, like the rest of the region, has been struggling to cope with the fallout from a decline in economic conditions, linked mainly to a fall in global oil prices.
This drop in car sales and production numbers.
Overall, car sales have slumped by around a third in Kazakhstan in the first quarter of the year compared to 2014 but there was a definite uptick in domestic production last month. Domestic manufacturers produced 2,611 new cars in May up from t 1,248 cars in April.
The car market is still suffering from slow sales in the first quarter of 2015, down 32% from the last quarter of 2014.
Car manufacturing has become increasingly important to Kazakhstan’s economy, employing hundreds of people. Most of the industry is based around Kostanai in the north of the country and Oskemen, or Ust-Kamenogorsk as it was called until recently, in the east.
In Kazakhstan, car sales hit 160,000 in 2013, up nearly 70% from 2012. There was a slight drop in 2014 and 2015 is shaping up to be an even bigger drop. This will likely be the first time that car sales have declined for two years in a row in Kazakhstan since 2008 and 2009, during the global economic crisis.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was one of a handful of international leaders to head to Azerbaijan for the opening ceremony of the European Games. In Baku, he held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Turkmenistan wants to send gas to Europe via Azerbaijan.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – US-based Contour Global Hydro Cascade formally received a 25-year licence to produce electricity at the Vorotan hydropower plants from Armenia’s state regulator. Although a formality, the licence is significant as Vorotan produces around 15% of Armenia’s electricity.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan and Iran intend to set up a joint bank in Tehran, Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mohsen Pak Ayeen, told the Trend news agency.
Mr Ayeen was speaking to reporters at the sidelines of a conference in Tehran. He didn’t give any more details on how the bank would be developed.
If the bank did take off, it would underline just how far relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have improved over the past few years. Under former president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Azerbaijan and Iran were locked in a cycle of sabre rattling, arresting spies and threatening war.
Since then, though, with Hassan Rouhani in power in Tehran since 2013 and the international community gradually accepting the re-emergence of Iran, the two neighbours have made a show of swapping prisoners, hosting bilateral defence and diplomatic meetings and talking up trade relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia faces a chronic shortage of electricity within three to four years unless it brings online extra generating capacity, the World Bank said in a report.
Power generation in Armenia is particularly controversial as it involves the Metsamor nuclear power station outside Yerevan.
Metsamor, built in the 1970s, generates around 40% of Armenia’s power but is considered a danger by the European Union because of its aging technology and location in an earthquake-prone zone. It has recommended that the power station is closed down although Armenia earlier this year elected to bring a Russian company in to extend the lifespan of the power station.
Lora Bailly, head of the World Bank office in Yerevan, said that even with Metsamor generating power, Armenia still faced a problem.
“Our analysis suggests that in the near future Armenia will need additional capacity to avoid power shortages. It is very important in three to four years to put into operation a new thermal power unit,” she said at a press conference in Yerevan.
And next year the Armenian government plans to close the Metsamor power station for six months for repairs.
Ms Bailly said that Armenia could supplement its current power generation with thermal power.
This month electricity shortages have been in focus in Armenia. The state regulators have just approved a 17% increase in electricity prices, the third rise in two years, irritating many Armenians. Opposition groups have promised protests.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Oil production in Azerbaijan fell slightly in the first five months of the year to 17.6m tonnes compared to 17.7m tonnes during the same period in 2014, an official at the national statistics agency told Reuters.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan exported 4.1% more gas in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year, media quoted the country’s statistics agency as saying. Azerbaijan wants to expand gas exports.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Experts in Azerbaijan’s real estate sector are predicting a drop in house prices this year as the market reacts to a decline in economic conditions in the region, media reported. A sharp fall in oil prices and the value of the Russian rouble have hit the former Soviet region.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
JUNE 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan are rising, media reported quoting the Kyrgyz Association of fuel traders. They said extra tax imposed by the Kyrgyz government had triggered the rise. Kyrgyzstan is also facing general inflation due to the falling value of its currency.
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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)
