NOV. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a 47-page report entitled “The Spring that never blossomed”, Amnesty International criticised Azerbaijan for its excessively harsh crackdown on anti-government protests this year inspired by the revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa. The Azerbaijani government has not commented.
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(News report from Issue No. 65, published on Nov. 16 2011)
NOV. 7 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – On the fourth anniversary of clashes between Georgian security services and anti-government protesters, several hundred people demonstrated in Tbilisi against President Mikheil Saakashvili and his government. Local media said the Georgian Labour party organised the protest.
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(News report from Issue No. 64, published on Nov. 8 2011)
NOV. 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Despite predictable accusations from the losing candidates that a presidential election in Kyrgyzstan on Oct. 30 2011 won by PM Almazbek Atambayev was unfair, opposition protests and marches failed to gather momentum. Dodging post-election violence was vital for Kyrgyzstan to shake off its image as Central Asia’s most volatile country.
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(News report from Issue No. 64, published on Nov. 8 2011)
OCT. 26 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh independent internet TV channel Stan TV said four men armed with baseball bats and a gun attacked two of its journalists in western Kazakhstan. The journalists had been reporting on the stand-off between oil workers and a subsidiary of the state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas.
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(News report from Issue No. 63, published on Nov. 1 2011)
OCT. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Around a third of the 450 workers at Armenia’s nuclear power station stopped work for three days over a pay dispute, triggering safety concerns at the plant. They returned to work after the government agreed a 10% pay rise. The Soviet-era Metsamor nuclear plant produces around 40% of Armenia’s power.
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(News report from Issue No. 62, published on Oct. 25 2011)
OCT. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – By Oct. 13 2011 Talas Copper Gold, a Kyrgyz gold mining company, had had enough.
After raiders on horseback had firebombed its camp in a remote part of northern Kyrgyzstan and local officials linked to its project had received death threats, the company decided to postpone further gold exploration. It had simply become too dangerous.
Talas Copper Gold, may only be a relatively small operation but the impact is significant and will echo around investors looking at Kyrgyzstan. The attacks bear the hallmarks of organised crime.
A joint venture between a British company Orsu Metals (40%) and South Africa’s Gold Fields (60%), Talas Copper Gold is the sort of operation Kyrgyzstan needs to lift its economy.
Foreign investors may be essential for Kyrgyzstan but their choice of investment sectors is limited. After water, gold is one of the most abundant natural resource. Kumtor, a gold miner owned by Canada’s Centerra Gold, contributes around 7% of Kyrgyzstan’s national income.
But two revolutions since 2005, ethnic violence last summer that killed roughly 400 people and a change of constitution, make Kyrgyzstan a risky place for foreign investors. Raids and death threats organised by local crime gangs looking for extra revenue often make it just too difficult to operate.
Perhaps most disturbing is that Talas Copper Gold’s experience is not unique. There have been several other cases of raiders on horseback attacking foreign gold prospectors this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 61, published on Oct. 18 2011)
OCT. 10 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – KMG EP, the London-traded unit of Kazakh state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas, downgraded its oil production forecast for 2011 again because of strikes and powers cuts at fields in the west of Kazakhstan. It said it would miss its initial 2011 goal by 8.4% now. In August, KMG EP said production would be 6% below the initial forecast.
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(News report from Issue No. 60, published on Oct. 11 2011)
OCT. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hundreds of anti-government protesters have defied the police and camped in Yerevan’s main square since Friday, AFP reported. They want early parliamentary elections and have pledged to stay in the square for a week. The authorities have said that they are breaking the law.
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(News report from Issue No. 59, published on Oct. 4 2011)
SEPT. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Russia-lead security organisation involving most Central Asia states and Armenia started a week of military manoeuvres. Russia’s most senior general, Nikolai Makarov, told the Vedemosti newspaper that stopping any potential Arab Spring-style uprising was one of the main aims of the manoeuvres by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
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(News report from Issue No. 57, published on Sept. 19 2011)
SEPT. 9 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – As many as 6,000 people gathered for the first opposition street demonstration in Yerevan for months, local media reported. Talks between the government and the opposition alliance (HAK) have stalled since Aug. 26 over the detention by police of a HAK youth activist. More protests are planned.
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(News report from Issue No. 56, published on Sept. 12 2011)
