APRIL 12 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s government named President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev as head of the country’s $80b sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. Mr Kulibayev had previously been deputy head. The move secures Mr Nazarbayev’s hold over the most important elements of the economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)
APRIL 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give Tajikistan $45m to spend on social projects. The ADB said Tajikistan is the poorest CIS state and that without help vital social services would fail. In January the ADB gave Tajikistan $145m for a new road.
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(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)
APRIL 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan aims to join a customs union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus on Jan. 1 2012, Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kyrgyz PM, Almazbek Atambayev as saying. The Kremlin has forged closer relations with the Kyrgyzstan since a revolution last April. Moving into the customs union will pull Kyrgyzstan towards Russia’s influence.
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
APRIL 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – RAKIA, the investment unit of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, has sold the majority of its stake in the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti, media quoted Georgian officials as saying. The officials said APM Terminals, a unit of Danish company Moller-Maersk Group, now owned 80% of the port which is an important transport hub.
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
APRIL 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh PM Karim Massimov moved the head of the state’s investment fund Samruk-Kazyna, Kairat Kelimbetov to be minister for economic development. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev is currently deputy head of the Samruk-Kazyna, which controls vast swathes of the country’s economy. He could be promoted.
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(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)
MARCH 31 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s President Roza Otunbayeva sacked the Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General Kubatbek Baibolov over links to a corruption scandal centred on the privatisation of mobile operator MegaCom. Mr Baibolov denies the allegations. The next day a row in parliament over the scandal between two deputies triggered a brief fight.
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(News report from Issue No. 34, published on April 4 2011)
MARCH 23/29 2 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s London-listed mining companies, ENRC and Kazakhmys, recorded large jumps in profit in 2010 because of high global metal prices. ENRC’s underlying profit doubled and Kazakhmys’ rose 75%. Both companies are closely linked to the Kazakh elite, including President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
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(News report from Issue No. 34, published on April 4 2011)
MARCH 28 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, each of its 153 members can block the accession of another country.
Russia has been negotiating since 1993 to join the WTO. The US wants it to join and in December 2010, the European Union said it also wanted Russia to join.
The main stumbling block is Georgia. Already a WTO member, Georgia’s block on Russian membership is one of its strongest diplomatic weapons. But Georgia also has to be wary of over playing it.
Georgia and Russia resumed their negotiations over Russian WTO membership during a two-day meeting in Bern on March 9. It was their first meeting on the WTO issue since Georgia broke off talks in April 2008 after Russia strengthened relations with the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Relations worsened further and in August 2008 they fought a brief war.
But now, under pressure from its allies, Georgia is back negotiating with Russia. In exchange for agreeing to Russian WTO membership Georgia wants more control over customs points along its internationally recognised border between Russia and Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Georgia can take a tough line but it has to be careful not to isolate itself and irritate its allies. Both sides said the meeting in Bern was constructive. The next meeting is expected in April.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a thinly veiled warning that food prices in Tajikistan will continue to rise and that supplies are running low, local media quoted President Emomali Rakhmon telling people in a northern province to hoard food over the next two years. Food prices have soared in Central Asia, worrying governments which fear unrest. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been worst hit.
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(News report from Issue No. 33, published on March 28 2011)
MARCH 10 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Masked police raided several Turkish businesses in Tashkent including one of the city’s biggest supermarket Turkuaz, media reported. The authorities said the businesses were fronts for Islamic extremism, accusations the businesses deny. The raids follow similar action against Turkish business in December and may be part of turf war.
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(News report from Issue No. 31, published on March 14 2011)
