SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a deal to sell spare power to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The deal, signed in Islamabad, means building power cables from Central Asia. Hydropower stations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan generate spare electricity in the summer while both Pakistan and Afghanistan suffer shortages.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)
SEPT. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The leaders of Russia, China and the Central Asian states except Turkmenistan met in Bishkek for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The SCO, described by some as a counterbalance to NATO, agreed to support Russia on blocking a US attack on Syria after a suspected chemical weapons attack.
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)
SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Osh, south Kyrgyzstan, arrested three Islamic militants — two Kyrgyz and one Kazakh — who had returned from fighting in Syria and were planning a series of attacks, the Kyrgyz National Security Committee said. Reports from Syria say that men from Central Asia were fighting for radical Islamist groups.
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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)
SEPT. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — After days of talks, Toronto-listed Centerra Gold said it had agreed a non-binding deal with the Kyrgyz government over ownership of the Kumtor gold mine. Under the deal, Kyrgyzstan would swap its 32.7% stake in Centerra Gold for a 50% stake directly in a company that would own Kumtor. It would also pay Centerra Gold $100m.
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(News report from Issue No. 151, published on Sept. 11 2013)
AUG. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Toronto-listed Centerra Gold and the Kyrgyz government began negotiations over the ownership of the Kumtor gold mine in eastern Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz government holds a 32.7% stake in Centerra Gold, which owns Kumtor, but it says it should own more of the country’s biggest industrial asset.
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(News report from Issue No. 149, published on Aug. 26 2013)
AUG. 22 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s four-party governing coalition collapsed, triggering potential long-term political instability. The Ata-Meken and Ar-Namys parties, always tricky partners in the coalition, withdrew their support over corruption allegations against PM Omurbek Babanov and a stalling economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 102, published on Aug. 24 2012)
AUG. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the first time on Sept. 13 in Bishkek on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Russia and China led Central Asia-focused group, Iranian media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)
AUG. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Kyrgyzstan uncovered an illegal pipeline pumping vodka into the country from neighbouring Kazakhstan, media reported. The discovery of the pipeline under the river Chu, which separates the two countries, highlights Central Asia’s entrenched smuggling networks and thirst for hard alcohol.
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(News report from Issue No. 148, published on Aug. 19 2013)
AUG. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hackers attacked the Kyrgyz foreign ministry website, temporarily plastering it with Turkish language slogans, media reported. It was not clear who was behind the attack, the website of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. The attack did, though, show the vulnerability of Kyrgyzstan’s government.
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(News report from Issue No. 147, published on Aug. 12 2013)
JULY 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s state gas company Gazprom completed its purchase of Kyrgyzgas, Kyrgyzstan’s gas distributor, for $1. Reuters quoted an anonymous source as saying that Gazprom will invest $600m updating Kyrgyzstan’s dilapidated gas infrastructure network. The deal also increases the Kremlin’s control over Kyrgyzstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 146, published on Aug. 5 2013)
