Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Tethys deal with Kazakhstan’s Oilsol collapses

ALMATY, OCT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Guernsey-based oil company Tethys Petroleum said Kazakhstan-based investment group Olisol had failed to pay a final 9.8m Canadian dollars ($7.3m) instalment that it had promised in return for a stake in the company.

Olisol had been viewed as saviour by Tethys, which had been short of cash because of the collapse in oil prices since 2014 which has destroyed profits at energy companies, but failing to pay up on time effectively crushes the deal.

In a harsh statement, Tethys complained that despite its readiness to move forward, Olisol missed the payment deadline, jeopardising the deal.

“Olisol failed to provide Tethys with any of the C$9.8 million purchase price required to purchase the subscription shares under the Investment Agreement,” the company said, referring to the agreement the parties had signed in December 2015 and updated in April.

“Therefore, Tethys considers Olisol to be in breach of the Investment Agreement and reserves all of its legal rights.”

Tethys also said that Olisol also claimed to be entitled to a full refund of the $5.7m it had already invested in the company, because of mutated conditions.

Olisol could not be reached for a comment.

After a takeover offer from London-listed Nostrum Oil & Gas fell through in the summer of 2015, Tethys had placed all its hopes on Olisol, and its mystery backers, to inject enough money to settle its debts.

The battle for survival in Kazakhstan has become increasingly tough for Tethys, which is also involved in legal battles with its partners in Tajikistan, its other main focus in Central Asia.

Days before it announced that its deal with Olisol had fallen through, Tethys said that it had received a notice from Eurasia Gas Group, a local company which had worked with a Tethys subsidiary in Kazakhstan since 2012. Eurasia Gas said that it was suing Tethys Aral Gas for $2.6m for failing to deliver oil supplies.

This is part of a bigger row. Last month, Tethys Aral Gas had threatened to sue Eurasia Gas for $1.3m in unpaid oil supplies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Insulting Tajik President becomes a crime

NOV. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon signed into law a motion passed by parliament at the end of last year that insulting the president would become a criminal office, media reported. The new law underlines the increasingly autocratic nature of the regime that Mr Rakhmon has built up in Tajikistan. Last month, MPs also decreed that he should be given the title of Founder of the Nation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Nationwide blackout hits Tajikistan

OCT. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A three-hour nationwide blackout hit Tajikistan after a power outage temporarily halted the Nurek hydropower plant, casting doubts over the stability of the country’s electricity system. The government opened an investigation on the incident and introduced the traditional winter power rationing scheme from Nov. 1. Hydropower stations produce less power in winter months because the water levels in their reservoirs drop as the depth of snow higher up the mountains increases. The issue of Tajikistan’s power production is particularly important currently because it, along with Kyrgyzstan, is supposed to be powering up to send electricity supplies to Pakistan through the World Bank-backed CASA-1000 project.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

ABD to fund road in Tajikistan

NOV. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give a $65.2m loan to Tajikistan to support the construction and remodelling of the Dushanbe-Kurgan Tyube road link. The highway serves as the country’s major north-south artery. The Tajik government will allocate $17.2m to the project. The OPEC Fund for International Development will also send a $12m loan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Work starts on building Tajikistan’s Rogun dam

OCT. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon inaugurated construction of the Rogun dam which should, if completed to the current plans, be the tallest dam in the world.

The Rogun dam project, though, is a project mired in controversy. Drawn up by the Soviets, it has been at the design stage for decades.

Downstream Uzbekistan is fiercely against the project, fearing that it will divert water that it needs to irrigate its cotton fields. Environmentalists have complained about the damage that will be caused to the natural landscape and human rights groups have documented the thousands of people forcibly moved to clear space for the project.

The inauguration of the Rogun dam project also came the day after a three-hour blackout hit the entire country. Supporters of the project said that this highlighted the need for the hydropower project to be built.

Italy’s Salini Impregilo was handed the $3.9b contract to build the Rogun dam earlier this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Turkey woos Tajikistan

OCT. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu travelled to Dushanbe for a meeting with his Tajik counter- part Sirojiddin Aslov. Diplomatic sources told media after the meeting that the two ministers had signed a deal to promote their political and cultural relations. Turkey has been paying more attention to its relations with friendly Central Asian and South Caucasus countries since it shot down a Russian fighter- jet over Syria last year.

ENDS