Tag Archives: society

WWF suspends Kazakh athletes

JUNE 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Weightlifting Federation said four Kazakh athletes, Svetlana Podobedova, Maya Maneza, Zulfiya Chinshanlo and Ilya Ilyin, took performance-enhancing drugs at the 2012 London Olympic Games. All four athletes will now be suspended from global competition, including the Rio Olympics this summer. Mr Ilyin, twice Olympic gold medallist, said he was shocked by the news and denied having taken drugs. The ban will be a major blow to Kazakhstan’s medal hopes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Uber starts operating in Kazakh capital, challenging gypsy cab system

ALMATY, JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uber started operations in Astana, posing a major challenge to Kazakhstan’s taxi industry which, like much of the rest of the former Soviet Union, has been based on an informal gypsy cab system for generations.

But the San Francisco-based ride-hailing app said in a statement that the service would only be offered with electronic payments, potentially creating an obstacle in the stubbornly cash-oriented economy.

Traditionally, taxi rides in Kazakhstan are a matter of flagging any private car down and then haggling a price. Cash is the only way of paying.

Astana residents, backed this up. They said that fixed prices and cashless payments will act as a brake on Uber’s popularity.

“The inability to negotiate the price will surely make rides more expensive,” said Alberto, an expat working for an European consultancy in Astana.

“The city government is trying to eliminate gipsy cabs ahead of the EXPO next year, but the cashless-only payment option will deter local travellers from using Uber.”

Electronic payments make up around 15% of total commercial transactions in Kazakhstan, according to the Central Bank, compared to a global average of 25% and a European average of around 50%.

In Uber’s experience, the payment system could change, though.

Months after Uber rolled out its service in Baku in April 2015, the company listened to its customers’ demands and introduced a cash option for paying their rides.

Uber said it chose Astana for its growth opportunities. “Astana is a dream-city, a city of the future and big opportunities,” it said.

Uber is not the first taxi app to tap into the Kazakh market. A long-haul Russian service, called InDriver, launched in Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Users said InDriver’s clunky technology made it hard to use.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Emigration in Kazakhstan increases

JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Statistics Committee said that immigration into Kazakhstan decreased by 25%, while emigration out of the country increased by 16% in the first four months of the year, highlighting a rapid outward pressure for Kazakhstan’s population. Net outflow measured 3,521 people. It did not give a reason for the high outflow but it may be connected to the poor economic conditions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Editorial: Gay marriage in Georgia

JUNE 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The issue of gay rights and gay marriage in Georgia has become increasingly heated. Each side loathes the other. There is little dialogue but plenty of insults and the odd clash.

Now a move by anti-gay right activists to try to enshrine marriage in Georgia’s constitution between a man and a woman through a referendum threatens to bring this animosity to a head. And at a dangerous time.

Even at the best of times, Georgia is a tinderbox. If the activists do collect the 200,000 signatures needed to hold a referendum the vote is likely to take place on the same day as a tense parliamentary election – Oct. 8.

Georgia is a conservative society and it is likely that the activists will be able to raise the 200,000 signatures. It was always going to be a long, fractious parliamentary election campaign. The prospect of a referendum on the same day deliberating on gay rights could make it explosive.

The role of the powerful Orthodox Church and various politicians and their rhetoric will be crucial in managing the various moods.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Tajikistan tightens advertising ban

JUNE 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik authorities have said they would fine shop-owners in Dushanbe for violating a law that bans outdoor advertising, theAsia Plus news agency reported. The authorities claim that the law, in force since 2007, also applies to storefronts, not just billboards. Shop-owners will have to take down their signs or risk a fine up to 20,000 somoni ($2,500).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Kazakh sportsmen fail in drug test

JUNE 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Five Kazakh weightlifters have tested positive for taking banned drugs, Kazakhstan’s weightlifting association said. The names of the athletes who failed the tests have not been released although weightlifting websites speculated it could be Olympic champions Ilya Ilyin and Zulfiya Chinshanlo. The drug test failures and any subsequent bans would be a major blow to Kazakhstan’s hopes of winning medals at the Olympics in Brazil.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Uzbek court jails ISIS sympathisers

JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Uzbek court in Samarkand jailed six locals who had planned to join the radical group ISIS in Syria and had incited others to practice Sharia law. The court handed out sentences of six to nine years. All the accused, five men and one woman, pleaded guilty. Official reports say that dozens of Central Asians travel to Syria every month to ISIS.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

China to invest in Georgian healthcare

JUNE 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Chinese government said it will inject a $9m investment into the Georgian healthcare system, which will improve medical infrastructure in two peripheral regions. China’s vice-PM Zhang Gaoli said the investment is part of the country’s Silk Road strategy. In 2014, the Chinese government invested $4m in a similar programme.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Georgian football team beats Spain

JUNE 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Just days ahead of the 2016 UEFA European Championship, the Georgian football team beat reigning champions Spain 1-0 in a friendly match in Getafe, near Madrid. In its 26-year history, the Georgian football team has never qualified for the top European tournament. The victory against Spain is the country’s highest achievement in football.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Kazakh charity sector adapts to downturn

ASTANA, JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Like other charities in Kazakhstan, the Astana-based Aspan Arystany, which translates as Celestial Lion, has had to adapt to survive a sharp economic downturn that has both reduced donations and increased demand for its services.

Importantly, this is a side of the economic downturn that the Kazakh government doesn’t particularly want you to see. Where the state is failing to provide a safety net for people during the economic downturn, the private sector has stepped in.

As a response to the economic downturn, Zhaniya Shaukenova, Aspan Arystany’s director, told the Conway Bulletin in an interview how they had developed a scheme for women to earn money through sewing.

“Our fund was hit hard by the crisis because donations, membership fees decreased and were not constant. Everybody had difficulties with finances. And then, we had an idea,” Ms Shaukenova said.

As the economy slowed down unemployment rates rose and many women, mostly mothers from socially vulnerable groups, found it difficult to financially support themselves.

And so they turned to charities like Aspan Arystany.

In January, the charity set up a new scheme called Aspan Home.

The main idea of this social entrepreneurship project is to help single mothers to earn money by sewing clothes and selling them through different fairs or local fashion shows.

Ms Shaukenova said they started slowly, initial capital was just 100, 000 tenge ($302) which grew after women proved that they could cover their costs and turn a profit. Some of the mothers were disabled, or had disabled children, so most of them work from home.

Currently, there are four mothers working in Aspan Home and they are already making money to support their families.

Roza Karayeva, a mother of four children and one of the women working in the project, said that it had helped her recover after losing her job as a Kazakh teacher.

“I was sitting home without job for one year,” she said. “I like this job, I sew many dresses and earn money.”

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)