DEC. 28 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved an ambitious economic plan for 2013 that relies on cash from Chinese, Russian and Western investors, Reuters reported. The Kyrgyz economy is hugely reliant on the Kumtor gold mine, owned by Toronto-listed Centerra Gold, which reduced output last year, forcing GDP to drop.
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(News report from Issue No. 119, published on Jan. 11 2013)
JAN. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – The hard facts may be sketchy but a sense of fragility has returned to southern Kyrgyzstan after brief fighting between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz broke out last week.
Ethnic divisions have fractured society in southern Kyrgyzstan for generations. In June 2010 violence broke out in and around Osh, the main city in the south. Around 400 people died in the fighting and thousands of ethnic Uzbeks fled across the nearby border to Uzbekistan.
Since 2010, there have been sporadic reports of flare-ups, but generally the situation has been controlled. Tense but controlled. The reports from Sokh, an enclave within Kyrgyzstan that belongs to Uzbekistan, were different though. According to media reports, clashes broke out after an altercation between Kyrgyz border guards and Uzbek residents of Sokh on Jan. 5 over the construction of new electrical pylons.
Accounts then differ, but the basic premise was that there was some sporadic fighting, shots were fired and hostages were taken on both sides. Some cars and property were also destroyed.
Media organisations estimated that hundreds of people had been involved in the fracas. The exact number is still not clear. What is clear, however, is that ethnic divisions in southern Kyrgyzstan are as dangerous as ever.
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(News report from Issue No. 119, published on Jan. 11 2013)
DEC. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s energy monopoly, Gazprom, bought Kyrgyzstan’s national gas company for $1 in what appeared at a first glance to be a simple bargain buy.
Strategically, though, Gazprom’s buyout of Kyrgyzgaz is far more than just a drive to increase its customer base. The buyout has also strengthened the Kremlin’s leverage over Kyrgyzstan where Russia is battling with the US and China for influence.
Russia and the US have airbases in Kyrgyzstan while China has won favour by funding infrastructure projects. Influence over Kyrgyzstan is considered key to influence over Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries in the former Soviet Union, relying on remittances and a handful of mines to prop up its economy. Its, mainly Soviet-built, infrastructure is crumbling, including the gas system.
Thousands of Bishkek residents have had to shiver through this winter after neighbouring Kazakhstan cut gas supplies over Kyrgyzstan’s unpaid debt. This is dangerous for Kyrgyzstan’s leaders as energy shortages tend to bring people out on to the streets and even trigger revolutions. They needed a solution and turned to Moscow.
In return, Russia’s control over Kyrgyz gas potentially gives it enormous power.
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(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)
DEC. 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In what is perhaps a sign of hardening Islamic sentiment, senior Muslim clerics in Kyrgyzstan have called for New Year celebrations to be scrapped as they are “un-Islamic”, media reported. Most people in Kyrgyzstan are Muslim, although religion does not dominate public life.
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(News report from Issue No. 118, published on Dec. 28 2012)
DEC. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament ratified an agreement to allow Russia’s airbase to remain for another 15 years with an option for a possible 5 year extension, media reported. Under the agreement, Russia will pay $4.5m per year for the airbase, a torpedo testing site on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul and a seismology centre.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
DEC. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Maksim Bakyiev, son or former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, appeared for his first court hearing in London over an extradition request from the US where authorities have accused him of masterminding a complex insider dealing system, media reported. Mr Bakiyev fled to London after a revolution in 2010.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
DEC. 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps it was just scare-mongering, but Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s National Security Council and a close adviser to president Vladimir Putin, said that his staff were monitoring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for signs of any re-emergence of the so-called colour revolutions, Russian media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 117, published on Dec. 14 2012)
DEC. 7 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It is dry, that’s for sure, but Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index is also a decent benchmark of how countries are dealing with corruption in their systems — an issue that foreign investors, local businessmen, politicians and economists follow closely.
The 2012 edition makes for interesting reading on Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Topping the table for the region is, again, Georgia at 51st place in the 176 country list. Armenia is next at 105th position, alongside the likes of the Philippines and Mexico.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan occupy 133 position with Russia and then follows Kyrgyzstan (154) and Tajikistan (157). Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan prop up the table in 170th position. Behind them lie only Somalia, North Korea, Sudan, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
And the big changes from last year? Well, Georgia continues to rise through the ranks, it was placed in 64th position last year, and Armenia has also jumped forward, from 129th in 2011. Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have also improved their rankings, slightly.
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have remained fairly consistent.
By comparison, though, the biggest faller from the Central Asia and South Caucasus region was Kazakhstan which fell 13 places in the rankings from 120th position in 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
DEC. 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – PMs of members of the Russia, China lead Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which focuses on Central Asia, met in Bishkek. China’s Wen Jiabao also met privately with Kyrgyz PM, Zhantoro Satybaldiyev. They discussed China’s future investment in Kyrgyzstan, and a potential trans Central Asia pipeline.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
DEC. 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz police arrested the former head of its national resource agency, Uchkunbek Tashbayev, for bribe taking and embezzlement, media reported. The case, once again, demonstrates corruption in Kyrgyzstan. Mining is one of the few sectors in Kyrgyzstan that generates a sizable income for the economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)
