Tag Archives: business

Noricum funds new gold project in Georgia

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Noricum Gold, a London-based miner, said it has raised over £1.1m ($1.4m) to fund a new project at the DavidGaredji gold and copper mine. Noricum partners with Georgia’s Caucasian Mining Group at the Bolnisi copper/gold project in the south of Georgia. Discovered during the Soviet periods, the David Garedji underground basin is located near the Bolnisi project.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhstan is ready to supply gas to China, president says

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan is ready to supply gas to China, a move that would further improve the two countries’ energy ties. Mr Nazarbayev met with Wang Yilin, chairman of China’s state-owned energy company CNPC, in Astana. Mr Nazarbayev hailed CNPC’s role in boosting Kazakhstan’s energy sector with its multi-billion dollar investments over the past two decades. Kazakhstan currently hosts a gas pipeline that pumps Turkmen gas to China.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

BP-Exxon row slows development at Azerbaijani field

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A row between BP and Exxon Mobil risks delaying an agreement between members of a consortium developing Azerbaijan’s largest oil field, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG), sources told Reuters news agency.

Any delay in developing the field will be a major embarrassment for BP, the lead operator of the project, and a disappointment to Azerbaijan which is looking to boost oil production.

“BP and Azerbaijan agree to the new terms but Exxon keeps rejecting them time and time again,” Reuters reported quoting an anonymous source with knowledge of the sector and the companies.

“It has been going on for almost two years, with Exxon insisting on better terms.”

In May, the Azerbaijani government said it had submitted its proposal for a new contract to all consortium members. No details of the contract, or its sticking points, have been released.

ACG was dubbed the “contract of the century” when it was first signed in September 1994.

The consortium shareholders are BP (35.8%), Exxon (8%), SOCAR (11.6%), Chevron (11.3%), Japan’s INPEX (11%), Statoil (8.6%), Turkey’s TPAO (6.8%), Japan’s ITOCHU (4.3%) and India’s ONGC (2.7%).

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

China to invest into Kazakh Glencore

JULY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – State-owned China National Gold Group and Silk Road Fund will partner to invest $2b to buy the Vasilkovskoye mine in Kazakhstan, owned by Glencore. China’s Shandong Gold Mining and Zijin Mining Group have also expressed interest in the mine. Glencore owns 70% of Kazzinc, the company that operates Vasilkovskoye, which is located 300km north-west of Astana.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Tajikistan hands out $3.9b contract to build Rogun

DUSHANBE, JULY 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan awarded a $3.9b contract to Italian construction company Salini Impregilo to build the controversial Rogun dam in the Pamir mountains.

The Soviet-era plan has been on hold for several years because of worries over its funding and opposition from Uzbekistan that it will siphon off water needed to irrigate its cotton fields.

The timing of the $3.9b deal for Salini Impregilo was unexpected and appears to suggest that the Rogun dam project is up and running once again.

Tajikistan needs the dam to boost electricity production. It suffers countless blackouts in winter, when there is less water generating hydropower, and has also committed itself to supplying both Pakistan and Afghanistan with power from 2018.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhtelecom improves corporate governance ahead of a potential IPO

ALMATY, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Aleksander Klebanov, one of Kazakhstan’s richest men, bought a 24.47% stake in Kazakhtelecom, the state-owned telecoms company, in a move to improve corporate governance ahead of a planned IPO in London.

Mr Klebanov’s Sobrio Ltd, a London-registered shelf company, bought shares from two companies officially owned by Aigul Nuriyeva, the 8th richest Kazakh according to Forbes. She was widely perceived as holding these companies on behalf of Mr Klebanov.

Wary of past corporate governance flops, Kazakhtelecom said the transfer of shares would improve transparency ahead of an IPO.

“The deal was conducted for Kazakhtelecom ownership structure optimisation and transparency purposes in preparation for a possible IPO,” the company said in a press release.

For two years, Kazakhtelecom has mulled over an IPO in London.

Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, owns 52% of Kazakhtelecom. Earlier this year, Kazakhtelecom’s subsidiaryAltel merged with Tele2, a Swedish telecoms company, in an effort to boost its mobile profile.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kyrgyzstan wants to import electricity from Tajikistan

JULY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan wants to import 1.5-2m kWh of electricity every day from Tajikistan over the summer, Aleksey Borodin, deputy director of National Electric Network, told local media, another sign that its power generating systems are not operating at their expected levels. In 2015, Kyrgyzstan imported 146m kWh from Tajikistan, before they halted trade because of the completion of theDatka-Kemin transmission line in Kyrgyzstan which was supposed to ensure the country’s energy independence.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Kazakhstan’s trade turnover sinks

JULY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hit by a sharp drop in commodity prices, Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover shrank by 30% in Jan.-April compared to the same period last year, the Statistics Committee said. Exports fell by 31% in the first four months of the year to $11b while imports fell by 29% to $7.2b. The global drop in oil and commodity prices has exposed Kazakhstan’s over reliance on its extractive industry.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Tajik banking crisis spreads

DUSHANBE, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s Central Bank said it had placed Tajprombank under its administration because it had nearly run out of cash and also that it had asked the EBRD to step in to advise it on how to support the country’s ailing banking sector.

A banking crisis in Tajikistan, triggered by a recession in Russia and a slowdown in domestic economic activity, has spread.

Tajik media reported that the Central Bank had asked the EBRD directly for technical support and advice to help it smooth out problems in its banking sector. The EBRD has already said it is looking at bailing out Tojiksodirotbank.

It has said that is is considering more support, although it us unclear if this is just advice or also funds.

So far Tojiksodirotbank and now Tajprombank have been placed under the Central Bank’s administration.

A source at the Tajik Central Bank said it had placed Tajprombank under its administration on May 3.

“This decision was taken because Tajprombank had repeatedly violated banking legislation and other regulatory acts laid out by the Central Bank, weakening its financial position and disappointing its creditors,” the source said.

It is unclear why it took the Central Bank two months to acknowledge this.

Agroinvestbank has also been looking increasingly shaky. Last month, customers said they were finding it difficult to withdraw cash from Agroinvestbank’s ATMs.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Putin ratifies oil supply deal with Tajikistan

JULY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an oil supply agreement with Tajikistan signed in 2013. The deal will allow Tajikistan to import oil under a duty-free scheme. Tajikistan, however, cannot re-export the oil supplied by Russia. Russia is one of the main suppliers of oil for Tajikistan. The deal increases Russia’s influence over Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)