APRIL 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan will begin construction of a $214m tire production plant near Tashkent in August, media reported quoting the state’s chemical company Uzkimyosanoat. The development of the factory is part of scheme by Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev to expand Uzbekistan’s industrial base.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
MARCH 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the first two months of the year, 18,000 new apartments were built in Kazakhstan, a 23% increase on the same period in 2016, media reported quoting official statistics. The increase is driven by the government housing building scheme unveiled last year called Nurly Zher. The scheme is part- political, part-economic in its aims which are to build homes for 1.5m families over the next 15 years and also to lift the country’s flatlining economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)
MARCH 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a major blow to Turkmenistan’s ambitions to cements itself as the region’s top gas exporter, Uzbekistan and China cancelled planned work on a fourth pipeline that was to pump gas to Chinese consumers.
The so-called Line D was quietly dropped at the beginning of the month, media reported quoting a RIA-Novosti article. In the article, RIA-Novosti quoted unnamed officials as saying a drop in demand for gas in China meant that there was no need to build an expensive fourth pipeline from Turkmenistan.
A JV between China’s CNPC and Uzbekneftegas had been created in 2014 to build the 200km section of the pipeline through Uzbekistan. Work had been due to start in H1 2016 but had been pushed back.
For Turkmenistan, the cancelling of Line D, which hasn’t been officially confirmed by Ashgabat or Beijing, is bad news. It’s economy is reliant on gas exports, and with prices low, it is floundering.
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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)
JAN. 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The 840km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway link between the Caspian Sea and central Turkey will be completed in the next two months, Turkish energy minister Ahmet Arslan told media. The route is seen as a vital piece of infrastructure linking Europe and China. Mr Arslan said is would double the cargo capacity between Turkey and the Caspian Sea and become an important part of China’s so called “One Belt, One Road” trade project.
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(News report from Issue No. 314, published on Jan. 27 2017)
JAN. 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Estonian construction company Windoor said that Kazakhstan had refused to pay a 23m euro settlement imposed by Stockholm’s arbitration court last year for reneging on a 2012 deal to build a conference centre in Astana for the Kazakh foreign ministry. Windoor said that it would now take the judgement to an international tribunal in Washington.
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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)
JAN. 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will part-finance a new $14.3m hydropower station on the Lukhuni river in Georgia, media reported. Georgia produces much of its power from hydropower stations. Like its neighbours, Georgia is trying to boost its power generation capacity to keep pace with demand. The new power station will have a capacity of 17MW.
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(News report from Issue No. 312, published on Jan. 13 2017)
TBILISI, JAN.4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Trump Organisation, the company running the businesses of President-elect Donald Trump, pulled out of a $250m deal to build a 47-storey apartment block in Batumi on Georgia’s Black Sea coast.
Last month, the company also pulled out of projects in Azerbaijan and Brazil to protect Mr Trump’s image. In truth, though, the Batumi project, signed in 2012, lost momentum after former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili lost power in elections in 2012 and 2013.
The project was generally derided as part of the showmanship of Mr Saakashvili, who had a talent for eye- catching initiatives.
In an email, Trump Organisation said: “[We’ve decided] to formally end the development of Trump Tower, Batumi.”
The Silk Road Group, an industrial conglomerate that was partnering Trump in the project , said it would push ahead with the development.
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(News report from Issue No. 311, published on Jan. 6 2017)
DEC. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — German manufacturer Seimens is reportedly eying up extending credit to Turkmenistan to build the TAPI gas pipeline that will run to India across Afghanistan and Pakistan. Media said that the $2.5b loan deal would hinge around Turkmenistan buying Seimens equipment for its compressor stations. Turkmenistan considers the TAPI pipeline deal to be vital for its future economic success.
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(News report from Issue No. 310, published on Dec. 23 2016)
DEC. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — China completed the $350m refit of a power plant outside Dushanbe that is considered vital to generating electricity for Tajikistan’s capital city. The refit of the power station highlights just how powerful China’s has become in Tajikistan. It has replaced Russia as the mainstay of the economy. Electricity is important in Tajikistan because its cities suffer from blackouts throughout the year.
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(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)
NOV. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan and Afghanistan opened a long awaited rail link which should ease trade, especially shipments of refined fuel. Turkmenistan’s economy relies of gas sales, mainly to China, but it has been looking to diversity into refined fuel and electricity exports and it sees Afghanistan as a potentially important market. It has built a 540,000 tonne oil product terminal at the Ymemnazar customs point on the border with Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 307, published on Dec. 2 2016)
