FEB. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR to a negative outlook from stable because of the decline in global energy prices, Reuters reported. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Azerbaijan’s sovereign rating last month.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite protests, Armenia’s parliament passed a law that will reduce tax imposed on small businesses to 1% of sales from 3.5%. The proposed law has angered businesses because it will mean that they have to provide more paperwork. Armenian PM Armen Rustamyan said the law would be introduced in July, a delay of six months.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Italian oil service company Saipem has won a $1.8b contract to replace leaky pipes at the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, media reported. It said the new pipes would be in place by the end of 2016, allowing oil to flow from Kashagan by the start of 2017.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has agreed to hold its AGM in Tbilisi in 2015. This will be the EBRD’s 24th AGM and the first to be held in the South Caucasus. For Georgia, the EBRD’s AGM gives it an opportunity to showcase Tbilisi.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a boost for business in Tajikistan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed a $5m loan to AccessBank which specialises in lending to smaller companies, media reported. AccessBank was set up in 2010 by international lenders.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
FEB. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Alexander Medvedev, vice-chairman of Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, said the company would cut gas it buys from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Mr Medvedev did not specify why Gazprom had cut its orders from Turkmenistan by 60% and from Uzbekistan by 75% but it may be linked to Russia’s economic downturn.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
>>Fall in oil price has hit Azerbaijan hard
JAN. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s government has cancelled a $100m project to provide rural communities with vastly improved and faster internet, media reported.
The fall in the price of oil prices has hit Azerbaijan hard. It is very much a petro-dollar economy and has had to adjust its budget to account for falling revenues.
The project was supposed to be funded by the state budget but it was, instead, one of the first to be cut when the budget was re-organised earlier this year.
And the project was supposed to be a major stepping stone to build a more integrated, connected society. Research in 2013 showed that only 500 of Azerbaijan’s 4,000 villages had access to the internet, a figure the government’s programme was supposed to improve.
Another project that the government has apparently reduced funding for is the Star refinery that it was building in Turkey. Instead, media reported, the Star oil refinery will be funded by foreign-backed debt.
Oil prices are critical to Azerbaijan. Last week BP, the biggest foreign investor in Azerbaijan, said that it was making 8% of its local workforce redundant.
The next few months are going to be important. While prices remain low, there could be more project cancellations to come.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
JAN. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Azerbaijan’s debt rating to negative from stable because of the fall in oil prices. It said 44% of Azerbaijan’s GDP and 95% of its exports were linked to the energy industry. Despite calls from various foreign institutions, Azerbaijan has failed to diversify.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
FEB. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — ArcelorMittal, the Luxembourg-based steel manufacturer, said it had temporarily cut salaries for workers at its plant in Temirtau near Karaganda, central Kazakhstan, by 25. ArcelorMittal has struggled to make the plant profitable over the last few years. It has cut its workforce at the plant to 17,000 from over 20,000.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
FEB. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhmys, one of the biggest employers in Kazakhstan, said it was stopping work on a handful of side projects and making 2,000 people redundant. Kazakhmys’ main product is copper although it employs thousands more people in support businesses such as coal mining. The news piles more pressure on Kazakhstan’s economy.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
