NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip that also took in neighbouring Uzbekistan, Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif visited Dushanbe for a meeting with Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon that would have focused on the CASA-1000 energy project. CASA-1000 aims to turn Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan into power exporters, sending electricity to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)
NOV. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s trade turnover with member states of the Eurasian Economic Union – that’s Russia, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – has dropped by nearly 26% to $12.1b in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2014, its statistics agency said.
The data is more evidence of the sharp downturn in the region’s economy. It is particularly jarring for Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev who has been one of the main architects and biggest supporters of the Eurasian Economic Union. It was hoped that the trade bloc would stimulate trade but instead, by anchoring outlying economies to Russia, it has hampered it.
A sharp drop in oil prices and Western-imposed sanctions have tipped Russia into a recession and forced its rouble currency to drop in value.
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(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)
NOV. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In what would amount to a major change of Kazakh government policy, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that he was considering cutting the number of diplomatic missions to save cash to soften the blow of the current economic downturn. Previously, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry has been opening outposts in South America, Africa and south-east Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)
NOV. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – There are still hundreds of teething problems that Kyrgyzstan has to overcome to successfully complete its integration into the Kremlin-lead Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the country’s representative on the EEU’s board, Danil Ibraev, told media. Kyrgyzstan joined the group, which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, in August. Kyrgyz business owners have complained about bureaucracy.
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(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)
NOV. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The head of the US Navy, Ray Mabus, met with Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev in Baku. No details of the meeting were released but the Caspian Sea has grown in importance over the past few years with the re-emergence of Iran and an increase of oil and gas supplies from Central Asia to the South Caucasus.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev flew to Tbilisi for a meeting with Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili. Officially, the clearly good-natured meeting only yielded promises of a deeper relationship but energy links were likely to have been discussed. Georgia is an important transit country for Azerbaijani gas en route to Turkey and Europe.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Final negotiations between the EU and Armenia over a deal to replace a failed 2013 association agreement should be concluded by the end of the year, Karen Nazaryan, deputy Armenian foreign minister said. The deal is important as it increases EU interaction with Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will sign an expanded partnership agreement with the EU next month, according to PM Karim Massimov. Speaking at a forum on Eurasian economic integration, Mr Massimov said Kazakhstan wanted to build on the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement it signed last year.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a show of support for Georgia, Ukraine said it will fine anybody driving a car with a South Ossetian or Abkhazian number plate, media reported. Ukraine is locked in a war with Russia for control of the eastern part of its country. It counts Georgia as a strong ally. S.Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russia- backed Georgian rebel states.
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(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has signed a decree paving the way for Turkmen electricity supplies to Afghanistan until 2027, a move seemingly designed to increase stability in its southern neighbour as well as lock in a long-term client.
The Turkmen government announced the agreement through one of its official websites turkmenistan.ru.
It said that the contract now being finalised between Turkmenenenergo and their Afghan counterparts would run from Jan. 1 2018 until Dec. 31 2027.
It’s important because it highlights both Turkmenistan’s ability to negotiate long-term power deals for its neighbours and also its determination to help Afghanistan stabilise.
Turkmenistan needs a stable Afghanistan for two main reasons. It wants the Afghan government to be strong enough to be able to control a resurgent Taliban and it also needs Afghanistan to be a stable transit partner for the proposed TAPI pipeline running from its gas fields to consumers in India.
TAPI is vital for Turkmenistan. It needs to diversify its client base for gas as it is over-reliant on China.
Turkmenistan has been investing heavily in its power generating infrastructure. It sees the sector as another way of projecting itself on the international stage.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
