APRIL 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan plans to tackle a lack of electricity by building small hydropower plants in different parts of the country over the next few years, media quoted industry minister Batyrkul Baetov as saying. One of Kyrgyzstan’s few natural resources is water.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s Central Bank chief, Elman Rustamov, said that he believed the Azerbaijani government budget for 2016 would be based on oil costing around $50 per barrel, media said.
This is significant as Azerbaijan struggles to make a profit if oil prices are stuck at around $50 per barrel.
Effectively, then, Mr Rustamov is predicting the problems facing Azerbaijan’s economy will continue into next year.
At the end of last year Azerbaijan’s government had to cut various projects because oil prices had collapsed. Azerbaijan’s economy is hugely dependent on energy. International advisers have said that the government needs to concentrate on diversifying its economy away from oil and gas. Reform has been slow, though.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan has raised tax on mobile phone connections to 5% from 3%, an industry website reported. Reports said that the increase in tax will force mobile phone companies to pass on the extra cost to their consumers, pushing up inflation across the country.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s government passed a law that will pave the way for a joint venture between Uzavtomprom and Germany’s MAN Group to build truck cabins. The factory should be operational by 2016. Uzbekistan has developed a substantial auto industry although a region-wide economic decline has hit demand.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A proposed $70b takeover of BG by Royal Dutch Shell will have implications for Kazakhstan’s energy sector. BG is a major shareholder in, and the operator of, the Karachaganak oil and gas project in north Kazakhstan. This will pass to Shell if the deal goes through.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Alcohol prices in Georgia have increased by 10% over the past year, the national statistics agency said.
Alongside the rising price of food (3.7%) and healthcare (6%) the cost increase in Alcohol is a major driver of overall inflation. Annualised inflation for March measured 2.6%, up from 1.3% in April.
Analysts blame a fall in the value of the lari currency for this price rise but new taxes slapped on alcohol from March 1 have also driven up prices.
The government increased tax on beer by 50% and on hard liquor by 100%. It has said the tax will bring in an extra 100m lari ($45m) and harmonise Georgia’s tax laws with the EU.
And for now, it appears, thirsty consumers and bar owners in Tbilisi are shouldering the price rises.
Cory Greenberg, owner of Dive Bar in Tbilisi said distributors wanted more for a litre of beer but he has promised to keep prices steady.
“Not so much for charity, but because it is smart,” he said. “Let the others raise their prices and business will come to us.”
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan and Belarus plan to set up a joint venture for cotton products, news agencies reported quoting a senior Belarusian official after a meeting with Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat. Turkmenistan is looking for ways to diversify its economy from energy.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Construction of the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port on the Caspian Sea has been ongoing since 2013 but the Turkmen authorities have only just officially appointed a controlling agent to check on progress of the project, according to press reports.
The Italian company Rina Services have now been made the official controllers of the project.
The Turkmenbashi International Sea Port is a crucial piece of infrastructure for Turkmenistan as it should open it up further to Europe.
Inaugurated in August 2013 by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan, then PM and now president, the new Turkmenbashi port is being built by the Turkish company Gap Insaat for $1.5b.
Rina Services will be awarded $10m to act as the controller, a key third-party role to check the progress and the execution of the project.
The company, based out of the port city of Genoa, has certified Dragon Oil’s pipelines in Turkmenistan and is also active in Kazakhstan, where it audits and supervises Kashagan’s D-Island.
Michele Francioni, CEO at Rina Services, told the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore: “(Rina Services) has had a presence there [Turkmenistan] for some time with deeply rooted local organisations.”
According to the plan, construction should be completed by 2017 . The port should facilitate east-west trade.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will give car-makers 35b tenge ($188m) to help them survive the economic downturn, media reported quoting First Vice Minister for the Economy, Marat Kussainov. Kazakhstan’s car-makers have been hit hard by the sharp drop in the rouble because Russia was one of its biggest markets.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Bank has approved a $52m loan to upgrade Armenia’s power distribution network, media reported. The authorities in Armenia blame the aging power network partly for the patchy electricity supplies across the country.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
