Tag Archives: politics

Kyrgyz President promises smooth power transfer

JULY 24 2017 (The Bulletin) — In a press conference lasting 3-1/2 hours, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev once again pledged his support in a presidential election set for October for PM Sooronbay Dzheenbekov and said that whoever won, there would be a peaceful transfer or power. Mr Atambayev is banned from standing in the election after the end of his single 7-year term. The elections are considered a test of Kyrgyzstan’s democracy.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Azerbaijan boycotts Yandex Taxi and Uber JV

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TBILISI, JULY 17 2017 (The Bulletin) — NewCo, a joint-venture between ride sharing companies Uber and Yandex Taxi in the former Soviet Union, ran into trouble within four days of its unveiling when Azerbaijan said it would boycott it because of its Armenian CEO.

The statement from the Baku Transport Agency is a reminder of how politics and business are closely entwined in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

“For this reason, after the unification of Yandex Taxi and Uber companies, if this structure is to be headed by an Armenian citizen or a person of Armenian origin, drivers of Baku will be called on to cease communication with this company,” a spokesman for the agency was quoted by Armenian media as saying. NewCo has “ appointed Armenian Tigran Khudaverdiyan, head of Yandex Taxi, as its CEO.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over Nagorno- Karabakh. A shaky UN-negotiated ceasefire has maintained a peace since 1994 but analysts have been warning that tension is rising with sporadic outbursts of violence and shelling intensifying.

Four days earlier Uber and Yandex Taxi agreed to merge their operations in Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Uber owns a 36.6% stake in the company and Yandex Taxi owns a 59.3% stake with the final 4.1% company,” being owned by management.

In a statement on the merger, Mr Khudaverdiyan, still formerly head of Yandex Taxi until the merger is completed by the end of 2017, said on July 13 that the new company currently services 35m rides every month, is growing at 400% per year and has a paper value of $3.725b.

“This combination greatly enhances Yandex’s ability to offer better quality service to our riders and drivers, to quickly expand our services to new regions, and to build a sustainable business,” he said.

Yandex Taxi and Uber dominate the ride-hailing market in the former Soviet Union. Their nearest rival, Gett, holds roughly 15% of the market.

Market analysts welcomed the ” move. Roman Luzgin, an analyst for investment website Seeking Alpha, said: “As the NewCo will account for more than 70% of the ride-on- demand market, the advantage of the monopolistic position will appear once the deal is executed.”

NewsCo will keep both brands operational. On the New York Stock Exchange shares in Yandex, best known as the Russian-language version of Google, rose to $31 from $27 after the news.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Council of elders in Turkmenistan set for October

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JULY 11 2017 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen media said that President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov had called for a Council of Elders to convene on Oct. 9. The Council of Elders consists of 600 men over the age of 70 from across Turkmenistan’s five regions. It is officially an advisory body for the President but in effect is used to rubberstamp his decisions, often major government matters. The President decides on when to call a Council of Elders, although it usually takes place every year.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Kazakh Halyk Bank completes KazKom takeover

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ALMATY, JULY 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank, owned by the daughter of Kazakh Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev and her husband, completed the takeover of Kazkommertsbank, a deal officials say is vital to protect the banking sector but critics say cements the First Family’s power.

The complex deal involved the state writing off $7.5b of Kazkommertsbank and Halyk Bank bad debt. Halyk Bank officially paid only 185b tenge ($560m) for its rival. The combined market share of the merged bank will be around 37%, roughly four times its next competitor.

While opponents of Mr Nazarbayev and his son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev, have said that the long-planned deal gives the elite too much influence, its proponents have said that it is essential.

Kazakhstan’s banking sector is under increased pressure from nonperforming loans which have been mounting over the past few years, since an oil price collapse in 2014 triggered a downturn and a halving of the value of the tenge.

The Central Bank has said that it has prepared a $1.5b fund to bail out its banks. Some banks in Kazakhstan have already folded.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Georgian parliamentary speaker sets up political party

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JUNE 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Piling more pressure onto United National Movement party (UNM), former Georgian parliamentary speaker Davit Usupashvili said he will set up a centrist political movement to contest local elections in October. Mr Usupashvili was Parliamentary Speaker between 2012 and 2016 under the ruling Georgian Dream coalition government but it is the UNM party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili who will be most concerned by the prospect of a new party.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Kaladze to contest Georgian capital mayor for GD

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TBILISI, JULY 1 2017 (The Bulletin) — The ruling Georgian Dream coalition chose energy minister Kakha Kaladze to be their candidate in an election for the mayor of Tbilisi set for October, a contest that is shaping up to be an early test of the government’s popularity.

Mr Kaladze is a former international football player who played for Georgia and Italian team AC Milan. His main opponent for the Tbilisi mayoral position also has a prominent public persona. Earlier in June, the United National Movement party (UNM) of former President Mikheil Saakasvhili said that it was going to put up Zaal Udumashvili, a well-known news reader for the opposition Rustavi-2 TV channel to be its candidate.

The UNM lost a parliamentary election heavily last year to the Georgian Dream. Analysts have said that without a victory, or at least a strong showing in the contest to win control of Tbilisi City Hall, the UNM could be slipping into irrelevance. Davit Narmania, a Georgian Dream candidate, won the Tbilisi mayoral election in 2014. The Tbilisi mayoral election is the most high-profile of several being held across Georgia’s municipalities in October.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Majoritarian to be kept in Georgia

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JUNE 27 2017 (The Bulletin) — The ruling Georgian Dream’s decision to postpone introducing proportional representation in elections until 2024, pushed back from 2020, is a damaging precedent for the country’s democracy, 32 civil society organisations wrote in an open letter. The groups that have signed the letter include the influential Young Lawyers Association and Transparency International. The Georgian Dream signalled last week that it was going to brush aside pressure and not immediately ditch the majoritarian system during constitutional changes.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Venice Commission approves of Georgia constitution reform

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TBILISI, JUNE 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Adding to the debate around Georgia’s constitutional reforms, the Venice Commission, which acts as the Council of Europe’s constitution watchdog, described proposed changes as another step positive step towards a parliamentary democracy.

The proposed constitutional changes are controversial because they strip the president of power and hand it to parliament. Parliament is dominated by the Georgian Dream coalition, increasingly opposed to President Giorgi Margvelashvili who was elected under the Georgian Dream ticket but has rowed with his former colleagues.

The Venice Commission’s opinion should dampen an issue which has become increasingly acrimonious.

The constitutional changes also shift the voting system to proportional representation and away from the proportional/majoritarian system considered opaque, another move the Venice Commission praised.

It did say, though, that maintaining a 5% threshold for entering parliament and allowing political blocs to contest elections were detrimental to Georgian democracy.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Armenian Prime Minister wants to stay on

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JUNE 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan has hinted that he wants to continue in his job after 2018, the panarmenia.net website reported, when constitutional changes shift power to the PM from the President. Controversy has surrounded the changes as their opponents have alleged that President Serzh Sargsyan, in power since 2008, wants to become PM when his second and final term in office ends in order to secure power. If Mr Karapetyan wants to remain PM it may, potentially, set up a fight for power.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Georgian news anchor quits to run for mayor

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JUNE 24 2017 (The Bulletin) — The charismatic and well-known Georgian TV news reader Zaal Udumashvili said that he was going to run in an election to be the mayor of Tbilisi for the United National Movement party. Mr Udumashvili’s announcement will give the beleaguered party of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili a boost. He had worked for Rustavi-2, a TV station that is the subject for a battle for control between its current UNM support- ing owners and a businessman with links to the ruling Georgian Dream coalition.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)