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The Regions This Week
May 24, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Eurasia
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called for a radical reform of the country's judiciary, saying it would be the "second phase" of the bloodless revolution that swept him to power a year ago. Making the case that many courts in Armenia have lost their legitimacy, he said too many judges were under the sway of the country's former authorities.
Kazakhstan plans to seek compensation
from Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft
after Kazakh oil flowing via Russia became contaminated, Kazakh Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Aset Magaulov told Reuters. The contaminated Kazakh oil was pumped via the Druzhba pipeline and loaded on tankers at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga.
Defunct precious metals mining company Oxus Gold failed to revive a $1.3bn arbitration claim against Uzbekistan or convince a Paris appeals court to toss out a disappointing $13mn arbitral award issued against the Central Asian nation following a dispute over two mining projects.
Iran developed a native firewall to neutralise Stuxnet and other computer viruses that might threaten its industry and infrastructure, IRNA reported, citing Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari- Jahromi. The Iranians are on high alert for further and intensified computer virus attacks from their enemies.
Amnesty International said Azerbaijan must not be allowed to “sportswash its appalling human rights record” by staging high-profile football matches. The decision to stage the Europa League showpiece in Baku has been strongly criticised by fans and human rights groups.
Kyrgyzstan's former deputy PM Shamil Atakhanov was arrested over the early release from prison of one of the country’s most
notorious crime bosses in 2013. Kyrgyzstan's interior ministry said Atakhanov was placed in pretrial detention on suspicion of involvement in the "illegal early release" of Aziz Batukaev.
German company AE SOLAR opened a factory in Georgia’s third largest city Kutaisi to produce solar panels that it expects to export to the European Union, US and Middle East, Agenda. ge reported. Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said that its plant was an important foreign direct investment for Georgia.
The ADB approved a $170mn loan to help upgrade Uzbekistan’s rail fleet via purchasing 24 new electric locomotives. The new locomotives will allow the country’s state railway operator Uzbekistan Temir Yollari to offer cleaner, more reliable and efficient passenger and freight transport services, the ADB said.
The Tajik government blamed a prison riot, which saw three prison guards and 29 inmates killed, on Islamic State (IS) militants. This marks the second time in the past seven months that Tajikistan has seen a deadly prison riot.
The world's biggest uranium producer
Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom agreed to sell 75% of the charter capital of a consolidated package of companies known as the KazPV project, which includes Astana Solar, Kazakhstan Solar Silicon and KazSilicon, to a consortium of investors. The consortium includes Yadran Solar company, ECM Greentech and Kasen/Canadian Solar.
The 10th round of crude oil sales on the Iran Energy Exchange (Irenex) finished without any buyers, repeating the performance of the ninth, the Financial Tribune reported. Iran has been holding auctions on the Tehran exchange in recent months to shift oil via trades that might beat US sanctions through a market of private buyers who sell consignments on to international markets.