MARCH 11 2015 (The Bulletin) – Inmates in a prison in western Georgia have started a hunger strike over the postponement of their trials, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported quoting one of the inmate’s lawyers. Western lobby groups have criticised Georgia previously for its harsh prison system and legal system.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
FEB. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz lawmakers are likely to vote on a bill that will criminalise promoting gay relationships in the next few weeks, the AFP news agency reported. The law is similar to Russian legislation that has attracted worldwide condemnation and, if passed, would possibly isolate Kyrgyzstan further from the West.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan and the US have signed an agreement that will smooth law enforcement issues between the two countries, the US State Department said. In particular the deal, which the US State Department described as an “important step forward”, will help the transfer of evidence between the two countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)
FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite protests, Armenia’s parliament passed a law that will reduce tax imposed on small businesses to 1% of sales from 3.5%. The proposed law has angered businesses because it will mean that they have to provide more paperwork. Armenian PM Armen Rustamyan said the law would be introduced in July, a delay of six months.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
JAN. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev approved the selection of Indira Dzholdubayeva as prosecutor-general. One of Ms Dzholdubayeva’s main tasks is to clamp down on corruption. Her selection as Kyrgyzstan’s prosecutor-general is eye-catching because Kyrgyzstan is still a male dominated society and she is only 35-years-old.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Foreign investment in Uzbekistan is again under the spotlight after Russian news agency Regnum quoted the British ambassador in Tashkent, George Edgar, saying that companies were having to quit the country because of various problems with the business environment.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
>>New tax code is an effort to stop tax evasion>>
JAN. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — A new tax code in Armenia is upsetting the very people it is supposed to be helping.
The government has decided to reduce the tax for small business, those earning less than $122,000, to 1% of their sales from 3.5%. The downside of the new law is that the traders and shopkeepers have to document more closely their sales.
Media reported that hundreds of traders demonstrated in front of the parliament building against the new tax laws. Their problem is the introduction of the extra paperwork.
The bottom line is that the government wants to increase tax receipts. To do this it has decided to crackdown on tax evasion and the fiddling of receipts. And this is where the problem lies. The Armenian traders’ will have to fill in more paperwork and, they say, will actually earn less under the new tax code because they will have to declare more of their sales.
The small traders have also complained that they are being used as guinea pigs before the new tax code is rolled out to bigger businesses.
With the Armenian economy reeling from the turmoil in Russia, the government is desperate to highlight good news. It has already had to postpone the introduction of the new tax code from November until Feb. 1. The issue is becoming increasingly contentious.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Washington-based Heritage Foundation said that weak rule of law in Kazakhstan had supressed its position in its global rankings on economic freedom. In this year’s ranking, Kazakhstan dropped six places to 69th in the list of 178 countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The new Mrs Clooney, wife of Hollywood superstar George, is adding a dash of glamour to a case going through the European Court of Human Rights involving Armenia. Amal Clooney has agreed to represent Armenia as it challenges an appeal against a Turkish politician who denied an alleged genocide against Armenia in 1915.
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(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015
NOV. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prosecutors in Georgia charged former president Mikheil Saakashvili with complicity in the murder of banker Sandro Girgvilani in 2006, media reported. Girgliani was killed after a row in a bar with interior ministry officials. Mr Saakashvili is living in self-imposed exile in New York.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
