Tag Archives: international relations

Uzbekistan and UAE sign $120m deal

MARCH 5 2015 (The Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has signed an investment deal with the United Arab Emirates worth a reported $120m, media said. The deals, reports said, would focus on joint investment projects. Uzbekistan has been looking to tap into the Gulf States for investment.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Azerbaijan wants EU to speed up gas deal approval

MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Azerbaijani officials have asked their EU counterparts to speed up the authorisation of Azerbaijan’s purchase in 2013 of a 66% stake in DESFA, Greece’s gas pipeline network, for $423m. The European Commission is investigating the potential takeover for any breeches of competition rules.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Pakistan leader to fly to Azerbaijan

MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain was due to fly into Baku for talks with Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev. Media said that several bilateral deals would be signed. Pakistan is looking for extra energy resources and views Central Asia and the South Caucasus as potential suppliers.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Japan gives buses to Tbilisi

MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Japan has made a grant of about $4.2m available to the Tbilisi city government to purchase electric buses, media reported. The deal is important because it shows Japan’s continued interested in developing links with the region and Tbilisi’s drive to update its public transport system.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Food prices in Georgia rise

MARCH 4 2015 (The Bulletin) – The price of staple foods in Georgia is rising, media reported. Interpressnews.ge said cooking oil, buckwheat, sugar, salt and other goods have all increased in price because of the devaluation of the Georgian lari. Economists have been warning that weakening economic conditions could trigger inflation.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Bedymukhamedov to fly to Japan

MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Underlining his credentials as a far more outward looking leader than his predecessor, Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said he would travel to Japan for a UN conference on disaster reduction. He’ll likely make time to meet with Japanese officials to improve relations too.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

France rejects Ablyazov appeal

MARCH 4 2015 (The Bulletin) – The highest court in France rejected an appeal by lawyers of former Kazakh opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov against his extradition to either Ukraine or Russia . This decision paves the way for a governmental decree to extradite Ablyazov who is wanted by Kazakhstan on various charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

Russia gives top awards to Azerbaijani officials

MARCH 8 2015 (The Bulletin) – Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, Oqtay Asadov, and presidential adviser Ali Hasanov the Friendship Order, one of Russia’s highest civic awards.

Opposition groups in Azerbaijan immediately denounced the award as a crude attempt by Russia to curry favour with Azerbaijan.

Despite rows over energy policy, Azerbaijan has seemingly been shifting its political stance towards Russia over the past few years. The West has accused Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev of cracking down on dissent and free media.

In a comment on Facebook, Natig Jafarli, a senior figure in Azerbaijan’s opposition ReAL movement, said the government was getting closer to Russia.

“Imagine what would have happened if Barack Obama gave an award to opposition leaders. They would have been called betrayers and fifth columnists,” he wrote.
There was no official reaction from Azerbaijan’s government on the awards to Mr Hasanov and Mr Asadov.

The pro-government news website APA reported that they had been “Ogtay Asadov and A. Hasanov is (sic) awarded the order for greatly contributing to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation with the Russia Federation.”
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)

China to build lead plant in Tajikistan

MARCH 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Underscoring China’s influence over Tajikistan’s economy, a Chinese company has agreed to build a $200m lead producing plant, media reported quoting a senior Tajik government official. China has increased its influence over Tajikistan over the past few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)

EU backs Kazakhstan for business

MARCH 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s foreign minister Erlan Idrissov flew to Brussels for a meeting with the EU where both sides committed to deepening their partnerships. The EU’s backing is important for Kazakhstan because of the growing stigma in the West over former Soviet countries’ ties to Russia.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)