Tag Archives: law

Agreement boosts business between Uzbekistan and Russia

OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia signed into law an agreement with the Uzbek government that it hopes will defend Russian businesses in Uzbekistan.

The statement on the Russian government website was vague but also unequivocal. It said simply that the agreement would boost investments between Russia and Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan has developed a reputation for being a notoriously difficult country for private companies to operate in. Businesses talk of intimidation from the authorities, police raids and unscheduled tax inspections.

Earlier this year Russian mobile operator MTS closed down its Uzbek subsidiary after a series of run-ins with the authorities.

This month VimpelCom, MTS’s main Russian rival, also complained of unscheduled tax inspections by the authorities in Tashkent.

So, the ratification by Russia’s government of an agreement with Uzbekistan to promote and protect each other’s business interests is, at least, timely. Time will tell just how useful it is too.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Kazakhstan could pass anti-gay law

OCT. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Momentum is building inside Kazakhstan’s parliament to pass a law that restricts homosexuals. Homosexuality has been legal since 1998 in Kazakhstan but a handful of lawmakers want to reverse this. Earlier this year Russia banned so-called homosexual propaganda.

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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

Kazakh MPs call for anti-gay law

OCT. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Where Russia goes, Kazakhstan often follows. This mantra is certainly true of economic and international affairs and now it appears to extend to social law-making.

Kazakh parliamentarians have been making speeches and canvassing support to bring in a law similar to the one passed by Russia earlier this year that banned so-called homosexual propaganda from being taught at schools.

The Russian law triggered an international outcry and calls to boycott Russia’s Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.

But a group of reactionary parliamentarians in Kazakhstan have seized on the Russian experience as their chance to push through a similar law.

Bakhytbek Smagul, a member of the lower house of the Kazakh parliament for President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s ruling Nur Otan party, has been leading the drive to ban so-called homosexual propaganda in Kazakhstan.

And he has built support, despite homosexuality being legalised in Kazakhstan since 1998.

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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

Kazakhstan mulls dropping visa requirements for EU countries

SEPT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — From summer 2014 Kazakhstan will drop visa requirements for tourists from some EU countries, media quoted Kazakh deputy foreign minister Rapil Zhoshybayev as saying. Mr Zhoshybayev said visa-free regulations were likely to cover countries, such as Croatia, where Kazakh citizens can travel to without a visa.

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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)

Kazakhstan reviews “gay propaganda” bill

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament will debate a proposal to ban homosexual nightclubs and gay rights marches, local media quoted MPs as saying. The proposal follows a law brought in by Russia earlier this year that bans homosexual “propaganda”. Russia’s ban triggered an international outcry and accusations of homophobia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Foreigners barred from buying land in Georgia

SEPT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Until July farmers from around the world had eyed up Georgia as good place to move to, buy a patch of land and start farming.

On July 17, though, President Mikheil Saakashvili signed a decree passed by parliament that places a moratorium on foreigners owning land.

Mr Saakashvili had, it has to be said, been against the decree but he was powerless to resist parliament which is now controlled by an opposition coalition led by PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Mr Ivanishvili’s government has proved their populist touch once more.

The previous government of Mr Saakashvili’s United National Movement had suspended a law banning foreigners from owning land unless they were part of a Georgia-registered business. They said that foreigners’ expertise was needed to boost productivity and efficiency.

They also actively encouraged some groups, such as Boer farmers from South Africa to migrate to Georgia. Other groups also arrived, such as Punjabi Indians.

This, though, triggered a backlash. Local people protested earlier in the year under the banner: “Georgian land for Georgians”. Once again politics and business in Georgia appear intimately entwined.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Turkmenistan to update investment law

JULY 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has said he wants to update Turkmenistan’s foreign investment laws, media reported. Media reports didn’t give specific details of his proposed changes but they did say that the changes would be designed to attract more foreign investment.

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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)

Toyota accuses violators of its brand in Kazakhstan

JUNE 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an open letter on its website, a Kazakh law firm acting for the local subsidiary of Japanese car manufacturer Toyota said that it wanted makers of counterfeit goods carrying its brand to be prosecuted.

The open letter is important as it acts as a warning. The car market in Kazakhstan is booming, fresh figures showed that new car sales continued to increase last year, and Western brands are looking to establish themselves.

The market is growing, the technical know-how to build the cars is in place but protection for Western brand’s intellectual property rights can often be lacking.

Toyota, which also produces cars under the Lexus brand, has previously flagged up counterfeit goods in Kazakhstan as a problem. The latest letter highlights that point.

For Toyota, defending its brand is especially important as it was only in February that it signed a deal to start producing cars at a plant in Kostanay, north Kazakhstan.

The issue of brand protection is also increasing important for Kazakhstan on a wider level.

As more and more Western companies with well-established brands enter the country and as WTO membership nears, Kazakhstan’s officials, legislators and prosecutors have to ensure that robust brand protection is in place.

(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)

Tajikistan passes new anti-money laundering law

JUNE 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Perhaps responding to criticism, Tajikistan has introduced laws both strengthening legislation against money laundering and increasing punishments for people convicted of washing cash, media reported. Experts had said Tajikistan’s anti-money laundering legislation was one of the weakest in the world.

(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)

Kazakhstan undergoes a pension reform

JUNE 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government wants to modernise its pension system. Among other things this means making women work five years longer until they are 63, in line with men.

The logic appears simple but the issue has hit a nerve and triggered a rare show of ground-level dissent.

But, if the public dissent was rare, the government’s climb-down has been little short of extraordinary.

On June 11 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, ever watchful for an opportunity to flourish his man-of-the-people credentials, sacked labour minister Serik Abdenov who had been charged with pushing through the pension reforms.

Mr Abdenov had cut an increasingly forlorn and isolated figure. Audiences have openly laughed at him, he has stumbled over his words when trying to explain the reforms and a protester has pelted him with eggs.

But the climb-down didn’t stop there.

Mr Nazarbayev has also said that the entire pension reform needs to be looked at once again and suggested that the changes should come into effect in 2018 and not in 2014. Since Mr Nazarbayev’s intervention state-influenced media have been putting out stories suggesting that the pension reforms have gone too far.

In Kazakhstan, this is code for a rare government U-turn.

(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)