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The Regions This Week
June 15, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eurasia
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced plans to jumpstart construction of a nuclear power plant at the end of 2018 in partnership with Russia. The head of Russian nuclear company Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, says the Central Asian nation’s Navoi Region would be the most suitable territory for the construction of a nuclear power plant.
Kazakh and Chinese businesses signed 40 deals worth $13bn during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Qingdao. Many of the projects are in tune with China’s goal of turning Kazakhstan into one of its transit hubs with modern infrastructure for Chinese goods heading to Europe.
Austria’s Oberbank said it is to withdraw from Iran due to the sanctions the US plans to impose against the country and foreign companies that continue to do business there. The move comes as a particular blow to the Iranians as Oberbank was one of the first Western banks to agree a deal to provide trade and investment finance to Iran.
Armenia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs stepped down after a disagreement on pension reforms with Prime Minister Nikol Pashninian. Mane Tandilyan wanted the introduction of a man- datory funded pension system for private sector employees to be delayed until July 2019.
Georgia’s central bank held its key refinancing rate at 7.25%, anticipating that annual inflation will not stray far from its 3% target this year. It stood at 2.5% in May, unchanged in comparison with April, which saw a 0.2% m/m decline.
Kyrgyzstan’s economic growth stood at 0.7% y/y in January-May, compared to the 6.1% y/y growth recorded in the same period of 2017, according to lat- est data released by the country's National Statistical Committee. The World Bank noted in its latest fore- casting that Central Asia is expected to see waning returns on benefits that pushed expansion last year.
Mongolia established an intergovernmental or- ganisation to promote cooperation among land- locked developing countries. The organisation
is aimed at “strengthening the collective voice” of landlocked countries in global dialogues as they face unique obstacles, said Deputy Prime Minister Ulziisaikhan Enkhtuvshin.
The banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajik- istan said more than 100 of its members have been arrested since the start of 2017. It accused the Tajik authorities of conducting a “new wave of arrests and retaliation”.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhame- dov pardoned 611 inmates on the Night of Rev- elation, an Islamic religious holiday held during the month of Ramadan. Such amnesties are not uncommon in Turkmenistan and generally do not cover political prisoners.
Fag cadgers are now a more common sight
in downtown Tehran after a company owned
by the Iranian capital’s government banned white-box street kiosks from selling cigarettes. The company, which licenses the kiosks to independent traders, issued its diktat with the objective of stopping the sale of black market cigarettes.
Turnover on the Baku Stock Exchange rose to AZN2.3bn (€1.1bn) in May, the highest value recorded this year. A breakdown of the figures for May shows that the lion’s share of the turnover was in the debt instruments market.
The EBRD arranged a $32mn financing package for a new 40MW solar power plant
in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region. The project will be carried out in partnership with China’s Risen Energy, and is expected to help reduce annual CO2 emissions by 55,000 tonnes.