Tag Archives: business

Georgian Mining raises $3.2m to develop Kvemo Bolnisi

TBILISI, NOV. 16 2016, (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Georgian Mining Corporation said it raised £2.6m ($3.2m) in a new share offering designed to finance the development of its Kvemo Bolnisi copper and gold mine in the south of Georgia.

Last month, Georgian Mining changed its name from Noricum Gold to reflect the geographic focus of its operations.

After the restructuring and consolidation of ordinary shares, the fresh share issue represents 40% of the total issued shares and will dilute ownership in the company.

Before the placing, businessmen Michael Johnson (6.1%), Martyn Churchouse (5.4%) and Fahad Al- Tamimi (4.9%) were the three largest shareholders.

The company said the new cash will fund development of the Kvemo Bolnisi mine, in which it owns a 50% stake.

“This raise is a significant endorsement of our approach to commence production at low cost and for a minimum capex requirement,” director Greg Kuenzel said in a statement.

Georgia’s Caucasian Mining Group, owned by Russian entrepreneur Dmitri Troitsky, is Georgian Mining’s partner at Kvemo Bolnisi.

Georgian Mining bought its 50% share in Kvemo Bolnisi in July 2015 from GMC Investment for £2.6m ($3.2m). The company started drilling in June, in line with its forecasts. Reserves at the Bolnisi project include 980,000 tonnes of copper, 6.6m ounces of gold and 22m ounces of silver.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Western banks agree $500m loan for Lukoil subsidiary working in Uzbekistan

NOV. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Uzbek subsidiary of Russian energy company Lukoil received a loan of $500m from various European and Japanese financial institutions to develop the Gissar gas and condensate field in Uzbekistan.

A consortium of banks — Italy’s Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, Russia’s VTB, Dutch lender ING, Japan’s Mizuho Bank, France’s Natixis and Austria’s Raiffeisenbank — has agreed to give the loan to Soyuzneftegaz Vostok, Lukoil’s subsidiary in Uzbekistan.

This is important because, by providing Soyuzneftegaz Vostok with a loan, Western banks are indirectly investing in Uzbekistan and, also, lending Lukoil funds. Lukoil is under US sanctions but not European sanctions.

The five-year loan will help Lukoil expand the Gissar project, which has produced around 1.3b cubic metres/year since 2011. The company plans to grow production to 4.8b cubic metres/year by 2017 and build a gas treatment complex near the field. Earlier this year, Lukoil said it was looking to obtain a loan from South Korean lenders and that it needed a $1b cash injection to com- plete the upgrade.

Sanctions were imposed on Russian companies after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014.

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(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Kazakh government holding seeks Japan loan

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Baiterek, a Kazakh government holding, said it secured a $300m loan from Japan’s SMBC, part of the Sumitomo group. The agreement, signed during President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Japan, will support the supply of high-tech equipment. The Kazakhstan Development Bank, a subsidiary of Baiterek, will receive the funds and finance joint projects with Japanese companies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

E-space plans to develop electric car market in Georgia

TBILISI, NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two charging points for electric cars have been installed in Tbilisi, media reported, the first move in a push to promote the sector.

E-space, a Georgian company, plans to install 25 more chargers across the city by the end of the year, then 70 more by the end of 2017, followed by chargers along motorways.

Sulkhan Gvalia, former deputy CEO of Bank of Georgia and now E-space CEO, said the sector was ripe for development in Georgia.

“The problem in Georgia is that there is no infrastructure. So that is why we started with that,” he told The Conway Bulletin.

Recharging an electric car will be free until the end of 2017. The Tbilisi city government has said it will pay for the power supply bills at the first two charging points. For the next charging points, E-space wants to sign agreements with shops to host and pay for the power. The shops will benefit from the extra trade generated by drivers stopping to re-charge.

So far, there are 50 electric cars registered in Tbilisi but Nata Kasradze, E-space’s chief product development officer, said sales will rise.

“The visibility of the chargers will change the mentality of people,” she said. “We haven’t imported a single car yet but we already have about 30 requests from people who want to buy a car.”

E-space has five founders and is self-funded. The founders said they had developed a three-point plan for its business. To develop the infrastructure, then open a showroom to sell cars, scooters and motorcycles and finally develop a service centre.

On the streets of Tbilisi not everybody was convinced, though.

Dato, 32, said Georgians with money want to flaunt their wealth by buying a BMW or Mercedes .

“Electric cars are still very expensive,” he said. “Georgians who can afford to spend this amount of money will not spend it on an electric cars which still do not represent wealth.” Gocha, a businessman, agreed.

“This market is for the middle class, but it has to be well marketed so that people can see the benefit coming from it. I do not think that Georgians are ready for that”

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

EBRD gives loan to Armenia

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD gave a $50m loan to Armenia to modernise a section of the Vanadzor-Bagratashen highway, which connects central Armenia to the border with Georgia. Repair and construction work will be carried out along a 51km section of the road. The European Investment Bank will support the modernisation of another section of the road with a $51m loan. Vanadzor is Armenia’s third-largest city. Armenia-Georgia ties have improved in recent years.

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmenistan postpones air link with Georgia

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Just weeks after announcing the new connection between Turkmenistan and Georgia, Turkmenistan Airlines suspended direct flights from Ashgabat to Tbilisi because of commercial concerns, Agenda.ge reported. The state-owned company had planned to start flights in September and later delayed the start date to November.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Tajiks and Russian resolve aviation row

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Tajik aviation authority agreed to give Russia’s Ural Air a licence to fly from Moscow’s Zhukovsky airport to Dushanbe and Khujand, dampening a row that had been intensifying. Last week, after Tajikistan’s initial refusal to allow flights from Zhukovsky, Russia’s aviation committee threatened to cut air links with Tajikistan. Under the new agreement, Tajikistan also won permission to open new routes to Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Barnaul.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Tethys says Kazakh police raided its offices

ALMATY, NOV. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Guernsey-registered Tethys Petroleum accused Kazakh police of raiding the offices of its subsidiaries in Kazakhstan days after a financing deal with Kazakhstan- based Olisol collapsed.

Tethys also said it had sacked Alexander Abramov, a principal at Olisol and director at Tethys, the day after the police raids . It accused Mr Abramov and Olisol of triggering the raids.

“We understand that the case was initiated by Mr Abramov. On November 2, 2016 the investigation division of the Internal Affairs Department of Almaty conducted searches of the Company’s offices,” Tethys said. Mr Abramov and Olisol have not commented.

Tethys, which operates oil and gas fields near the Aral Sea, also accused Olisol of other underhand business tactics.

The company said that its two main gas supply contracts were terminated shortly before a deadline for Olisol to pay its proposed investment. This allowed Olisol to back out of the agreement.

Essentially Tethys accused Olisol of deliberately scuppering its finance plans. Tethys had been relying on investment of $10m from Olisol, in return for equity, to push through a tough period for the energy industry.

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakhstan’s flagship to put for auction

NOV. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna said it will put up for auction up to 25% of Air Astana, the country’s flagship carrier it co- owns with Britain’s BAE Systems. Samruk-Kazyna said that BAE Systems could also sell up to 25% of Air Astana, but that 51% of the shares should remain in the hands of Kazakh investors to comply with the law. Samruk-Kazyna owns 51% of Air Astana, BAE Systems owns the rest.

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Turkmenistan settles row with Gazprom

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan’s Turkmengaz and Russia’s Gazprom settled a row over gas pricing after a meeting between Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week, media reported. Earlier this year, Gazprom filed an arbitration case against Turkmengaz in a Stockholm court alleging that it had been over-charged for gas. Turkmengaz had previously accused Gazprom of not paying its debts.

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)