JULY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has given Azerbaijan’s AccessBank credit worth $50m media reported. AccessBank, set up in 2002, operates dozens of branches in Azerbaijan’s regions and gives loans to small and medium-sized businesses. AccessBank’s debt portfolio for agriculture businesses has grown in the last few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two of the key core strengths of Britain’s Virgin Group and its founder Sir Richard Branson are self-publicity and business acumen. It may be bringing both of these strengths to the Kazakh telecoms market.
Virgin Group spans a handful of sectors including trains, aviation, banking, travel, health clubs and telecoms. In 2011, according to its website, Virgin Group employed 50,000 people across the world and earned revenues of about $21b.
Perhaps its biggest assets, though, are the Virgin brand and a sense of flair. Sir Richard set up Virgin in 1970 and its slanted, hand-written logo is now recognisable around the world.
Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe was one of the British companies that signed deals with Kazakh businesses during a trip to Kazakhstan by British PM David Cameron earlier this month.
Launched in 2012, Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe is currently only offering a mobile phone service in Poland. This, though, could change.
It may just have been a so-called memorandum of understanding with Kazakh Telecom but this is still significant as it could mean a Virgin branded broadband and telecoms business offering services to people in Kazakhstan. As an indication of Kazakhstan’s development, Virgin’s potential entry is interesting and, possibly, significant.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
MAY 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) agreed to give Uzbekistan a $270m grant to buy two new Boeing airplanes for its national airline and to modernise its hydro-electric stations. The IDB, a multinational institution, has been one of Uzbekistan’s biggest donors in recent years.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
Nov. 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Local media quoted sources in the Uzbek government as saying that the Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will finance part of a $168m scheme to modernise two hydropower plants near Tashkent. The IDB has not confirmed the finance deal which some media said would total $100m.
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(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)
Nov. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Showing confidence in Georgia’s retail market, the EBRD said it had agreed to lend Smart Supermarkets, a relatively new chain of local convenience stores, $26m. The loan will be used to build a distribution centre and open 28 new shops across the country, mainly in residential areas.
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(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)
JULY 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – China’s Hualing group bought a 90% stake in the Georgia’s Basisbank from the EBRD and the bank’s founder, Zurab Tsikhistavi, the company said. Media reported that this is the first time a private Chinese bank had bought an overseas bank. The EBRD and Mr Tsikhistavi will both retain a 5% stake in Basisbank.
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(News report from Issue No. 095, published on July 6 2012)
FEB. 16 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ABD) and the Uzbek government inaugurated construction of a solar power research institute in Tashkent. The ADB plans to develop solar power across the region and wants the International Solar Energy Institute to become a global centre of excellence.
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(News report from Issue No. 78, published on Feb. 23 2012)
JUNE 21 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – It is difficult to overstate the potential importance of the Konimansuri Kalon silver deposit in Tajikistan.
The IFC, part of the World Bank, which is advising the government on how best to exploit the deposit, reckons that mining the silver could earn Tajikistan $2b. In 2010 according to the CIA World Factbook, Tajikistan’s total national income was just under $6b.
Reuters reported that the Chinese companies considering bidding for the contract have pulled out and that only Kazzinc, which is owned by Switzerland-based Glencore, and BHP Billiton remain in the race to partner the government.
Tajikistan is poor and mountainous. Inflation is rife and living standards are dropping.
Alongside battling a growing insurgency in the mountains, the government is pursuing a heavy-handed policy against practising Muslims which analysts say is likely to back fire and push people towards militant Islamists.
Corruption is rife in Tajikistan and the economy is reliant on a Soviet-era copper smelter with opaque finances and cash from remittances. Estimates say that money from people working abroad accounts for 50% of the Tajik economy. The illegal drug trade from neighbouring Afghanistan is also an important source of income.
The Konimansuri Kalon silver deposit, located around 50km from Tajikistan’s second city of Khujand in the northwest of the country, isn’t going to change the situation overnight but it does offer some hope.
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(News report from Issue No. 46, published on June 28 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)
MARCH 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to lend Turkmenistan $125m for work on building part of a railway that will link Central Asia with the Persian Gulf. This is the first ADB loan to Turkmenistan and shows businesses are increasingly willing to do deals with Ashgabat.
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(News report from Issue No. 32, published on March 21 2011)
