Tag Archives: Tajikistan

Tajik official’s son crashes in a car

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Faromuz Saidov, the 23-year-old son of Tajik deputy PM Davlati Saidov, crashed his car into a council cleaning truck killing two people in Dushanbe. One of the victims was travelling in Mr Saidov’s car, the other was a city worker. Mr Saidov was hospitalised and the interior ministry opened an investigation. Family members of public officials in Tajikistan, however, seldom receive punishment for road accidents.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Tajik government snoops its citizens

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik government admitted for the first time that it had spied on some of some of its citizens by reading their emails and text message. At a conference on freedom of expression and counter- terrorism, a spokesperson from Tajikistan’s Prosecutor-General said that the authorities closely monitor internet messaging systems of certain individuals. Critics said this practice also targets opposition activists.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Business comment: Tethys Woes

SEPT. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Guernsey-based oil company Tethys Petroleum never seems to catch a break.

This time last year it had just turned down a takeover offer from Amsterdam-based Nostrum Oil & Gas, also focused on Central Asia. But its financial outlook remained uncertain and it was still on the market for investors.

In the last months of 2015, the obscure Kazakh oil company Olisol came forward with a proposal to buy a large share of Tethys in exchange for much-needed cash.

This appeared to be the salvation that Tethys, buffeted by the slump in oil prices, needed. Tethys saluted the prospective deal as a life-saving opportunity.

But then hiccups in Kazakhstan and legal disputes with its partners in Tajikistan began churning up Tethys’ road to stability.

Now it faces legal prosecution in Kazakhstan and an arbitration in Tajikistan, which could turn ugly.

Plus repeated delays in securing funding from Olisol have put investors and managers under severe stress. This can easily be spotted by looking at the company’s stock price, which jumps and falls at every update.

In mid-August, its stock price nearly doubled in one day, reaching a four-month high, after Tethys announced that it had cleared an important regulatory hurdle in its recapitalisation efforts.

Now, Tethys’ stock price has settled back at 1.5p/share, an average it has kept in the second half of 2016, quite far down from the 64p it traded at in March 2012.

But those were the days of high oil prices and big spending. It’s a very different picture now.

With oil prices still hovering at around $45/barrel, the future looks as uncertain as ever for Tethys.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Tajikistan’s trade turnover drops

SEPT. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s foreign trade turnover in Jan.-Aug. 2016 fell by 7.6% compared to the same period last year, on account of lower imports, Tajikistan’s Central Bank said. Tajikistan exported goods worth around $600m, a decrease of 1.9% compared to last year. Notably, Tajikistan imported less than $2b- worth of goods in the first eight months of the year, a 9% decline compared to 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Inflation raises in Tajikistan

SEPT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Bank said that annualised inflation amounted to 6.4% in August, an increase from last year’s level of 5.1%. Inflation is volatile in Tajikistan, as it is closely tied to the Central Bank’s currency interventions. Despite repeated Central Bank’s interventions, the Tajik somoni has lost 19% against the US dollar in the past 12 months.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

IS promotes ex-Tajik police chief

SEPT. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gulmurod Khalimov, the former head of Tajikistan’s special police force and a US-trained sniper, was named top commander in Iraq by the extremist IS group. Khalimov defected to the IS last year. In August, the US State Department placed a reward of up to $3m for information on the location of Khalimov.

ENDS