Tag Archives: business

Azerbaijan wants to increase wine sales to China

AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan wants to further increase its exports of wine to China over the next few years, Chinese media reported by quoting Azerbaijani officials. China is seen by both Azerbaijan and Georgia as a key growth market. Both governments and their exports agencies have been ploughing money into marketing their wine in China. Earlier this year, Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev extolled Azerbaijani wine producers to boost sales.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Papa John’s says to open in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

ALMATY, AUG. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — US pizza chain Papa John’s said it would expand its franchise stores into Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, building on what it said was a successful venture into Russia and Belarus (Aug. 24). Papa John said that it planned to open its first restaurant in Almaty by the end of the year and that it would open 15 more by 2022. In Bishkek, it said it planned to open six restaurants.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Chocolate maker Ferrero Rocher eyes up Azerbaijani hazelnuts

AUG. 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Italian confection-maker Ferrero Rocher started talks with the Azerbaijani government on sourcing hazelnuts for is chocolates.

News reports said senior Ferrero Rocher executives had traveled to Baku for meetings.

Azerbaijan has previously said it wants to increase its hazelnut production. It produces around 4% of the world’s total hazelnut production. Turkey is the biggest producer of hazelnuts.

Ferrero Rocher is well-known for its gold packaging and 1980s TV adverts which linked the chocolate to lavish, and glamorous, diplomatic parties, featuring the catchphrase: “Ferrero Rocher. A sign of good taste”.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

 

Kazakhstan’s KAZ Minerals raises expectations

AUG. 17 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakh miner KAZ Minerals said it was targeting production of 300,000 tonnes of copper in 2018 after a significant boost to output and copper prices in the first half of the year. KAZ Minerals is an open-pit mine and its operations are focused on Kazakhstan. It doubled production in the first half of the year from the same period in 2016.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

 

Azeri-Chirag- Guneshli production falls

AUG. 17 2017 (The Bulletin) — BP said that the Azeri-Chirag- Guneshli (ACG) in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea produced 14m tonnes of oil in the first half of 2017, 12.5% less than during the same period in 2016. The drop will irritate Azerbaijani officials who have been pressuring BP to stop a production slippage at ACG, its biggest oil producer. In the first half of 2013, ACG had produced nearly 22m tonnes of oil.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

 

Kazakh CB to bail out commercial banks

AUG. 10 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank will write off bad loans held by the country’s commercial banks worth $1.8b to $3b through a bond purchasing programme, Olzhas Kizatov, head of its banking sector supervision department, told media. In essence this is a bail-out of the Kazakh banking sector. The Central Bank had estimated that 11% of the banks’ loan portfolio was considered bad but Mr Kizatov said that the real figure was higher.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Berdy visits Azerbaijan

AUG. 9 2017 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov flew to Baku for talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that focused on efforts to feed Turkmen gas into the South Caucasus Energy Corridor that will pump supplies to Europe from the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan is looking for more export routes for its gas. Officially the two leaders signed a document promising to further their strategic partnership.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

 

US sanctions do not hit Kazakh CPC exports

AUG. 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — New US sanctions imposed on Russia will not affect Kazakh oil exports via the CPC pipeline to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, media quoted Kazakhstan  economy minister Timur Suleimenov, as saying. CPC has become the main export route for Kazakh oil produced at Tengizchevroil and Kashagan. At the start of August, US President Donald Trump signed a series of sanctions targeting Russian oil exports in retaliation for its meddling in the US election.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

 

Kazakh economy improving says mobile operator Kcell

ALMATY, JULY 20 2017 (The Bulletin) — Macroeconomic conditions in Kazakhstan are improving, Kcell, the Kazakh mobile operator part-owned by Swedish-Finnish Telia, said in its first half report, an important view of Central Asia’s biggest economy.

Kcell’s revenue from sales was down by 1.1% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2016 at 71.54b tenge ($219.5m) but this was due to changes in tariffs and the tough market conditions in mobile operations.

More importantly, Kcell CEO Arti Ots said, the economy was starting to show sustained growth after three years of stagnation.

“In the first half of 2017, we saw continued improving trends in both macroeconomic indicators and the market environment in Kazakhstan,” he said. “In the domestic telecoms market, as previously reported, ongoing tariff adjustments are starting to give a positive impact, which we expect to see the results of in the second half of the year.”

Kcell reports are watched carefully by analysts as they are considered to give a balanced corporate view of Kazakhstan’s economy. Like the rest of the region Kazakhstan has been trying to shake off a tough three years linked to a collapse in oil prices and a recession in Russia.

Economists have also said the outlook for Kazakhstan has improved this year. The Kazakh Central Bank has said inflation is easing and the World Bank has estimated that GDP will grow at around 2.2% this year, compared to 1% in 2015 and 2016.

Kcell is fighting a 9b tenge fine for late payment of taxes in 2012-15 handed out this year by the Kazakh authorities, which it says is unfair. It said in its H1 report that it didn’t expect to have to pay the full fine. Telia is looking to sell its stakes, owned directly and indirectly, in Kcell after a corruption row focused on its operations in Uzbekistan tarnished its reputation.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

 

Currencies: Uzbekistan’s soum

JULY 27 2017 (The Bulletin) — So, it looks like we already have the big currency story of the year for the region. At least, that is, unless something goes terribly wrong with some of the more wobbly currencies out there – mentioning no names – Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and even Kazakhstan.

The IMF returned from a mission to Tashkent saying that the government there was fully intending to relax currency exchange regulations that have strangled foreign investment. The official rate of the Uzbek soum is now just over 4,000/$1. The unofficial rate is more than double. How they merge is going to be the story to watch.

In the meantime, if anybody has missed it, it is clear that the Uzbek Central Bank has been managing a steady devaluation of its currency. The chart below shows the steps it has been making to devalue it – by more than 25% since the end of January.

On the equities front, KAZ Minerals continues to outperform, mainly because of another surge in copper prices.

ENDS

Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)