FEB. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s president Emomali Rakhmon sacked the managing-director at TALCO, the company that runs its aluminium smelter, media reported. No official reason was given for sacking Sadriddin Sharipov from TALCO which generates around 70% of Tajikistan’s foreign earnings.
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(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The lower house of Uzbekistan’s parliament approved the re-selection of Shavkat Mirziyoyev as an official PM candidate. Mr Mirziyoyev has been PM since 2003 and Uzbek analysts said it was highly likely that he would retain the job after the March presidential election.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The drop in the price of gas and oil will hit Turkmenistan’s economy, although it will still grow by nearly 10% in 2015, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in its updated growth forecasts. Turkmenistan’s economy is protected somewhat by contracts with China.
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(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)
>>Sackings come shortly after currency devaluation>>
JAN. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been a busy start to 2015 for Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. He ordered the devaluation by 20% of the manat on Jan. 1 and now he has sacked both the head of the state gas company Turkmengaz and the head of the Central Bank.
Mr Berdymukhamedov appears frustrated at the relative sluggish nature of recent growth in the Turkmen economy. Much of this can be attributed to the 50% fall in energy prices and the drop in the value of the Russian rouble, so important for the economies of Central Asia.
But Mr Berdymukhamedov said that Turkmengaz head Kakageldy Abdullayev was to blame.
“We could have raised production and exports of liquefied gas and other products which are in great demand on world markets,” Reuters quoted him telling a government meeting.
Mr Berdymukhamedov is fond of culling his top officials. Mr Abdullayev had only been in the job for a year. His replacement was named as Charymuhammed Hommadov.
The day before, Mr Berdymukhamedov had also sacked the head of the Central Bank, the head of the state-run Prezidentbank and also the agriculture bank Daikhanbank.
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(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015)
DEC. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Kairat Kelimbetov, ex head of the Kazakh Central Bank, as head of the Astana Financial Centre, media reported. Mr Kelimbetov has kept a low profile since being sacked as head of the CBank in Nov. after two years in the job. The Astana Financial Centre is a state project to promote the Kazakh capital as an international finance centre.
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(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)
JAN. 4 2015, (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan may have serious problems making its national budget work with oil prices dropping below $50/barrel, media reported (Jan. 4). The government’s budget estimates are calculated at oil costing $90/barrel. Oil revenues directly contribute over half the government’s revenue.
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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)
DEC. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a treaty to join the Russia- led Eurasian Economic Union in 2015. The vote rubber stamps earlier decisions taken by President Serzh Sargsyan. Alongside Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are members of the Customs Union which will morph into the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least 40 NGOs in Kyrgyzstan signed a petition urging Pres. Almazbek Atambayev to avoid signing into law a bill which will make overseas funding illegal, media reported. Mr Atambayev has previous said the law is important because it prevents foreign states from using NGOs to spy on Kyrgyzstan. The NGOs say the funding is a vital lifeline.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps in a push to boost investment from the Gulf States, Kyrgyzstan will open an embassy in Dubai. President Almazbek Atamabayev announced the opening of a new embassy while on a trip to the UAE. Kyrgyzstan has slowly been increasing its international presence over the past year.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
NOV. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s parliament approved a government budget for 2015 that contains a 5.7% spending increase despite global oil prices continuing to fall (Nov. 28).
The Azerbaijani government agreed on its budget when oil was averaging around $90/barrel.
It is now closer to $70/barrel and some commentators said the government was taking a huge risk by not reducing its expenditure.
Economist Natig Jafarli a senior figure in Azerbaijan’s opposition group said: “The country’s economy depends on oil at $66 directly and $80 indirectly. They should have had developed non-oil sector too and they haven’t.”
Mr Jafarli’s references to direct and indirect incomes for the government’s budget is to cash paid in directly by the National Oil Fund and cash from taxes and other duties paid indirectly by oil companies and exporters.
And he may have a point. Certainly the IMF agrees.
In a report last month, the IMF said that Azerbaijan’s economy was particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices because of its excessive decency on it.
Other opposition figures said that they expected social problems next year because of a budget squeeze triggered by the falling oil prices.
If opposition and international economists’ claims that Azerbaijan is over-dependent on oil are correct then the current global oil price squeeze will leave it, and the government’s 2015 budget, exposed.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
