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bne July 2018 Companies & Markets I 17
EBRD optimistic on Central Asia but has no plans to restart lending in Russia
bne IntelliNews
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop- ment’s (EBRD’s) president Suma Chakrabarti has said the development bank has no plans to restart lending in Russia but has some optimism where its projects in Central Asia are concerned, Reuters reported on June 5, citing an interview with Chakrabarti.
The development bank froze loans to Russia in 2014 due to Moscow’s involvement in the Ukrainian conflict – the EBRD’s position has not changed, Chakrabarti noted. The EBRD’s positive attitude towards Central Asia is partly thanks to Uzbekistan’s ongoing market reforms, with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hoping to dismantle his predecessor’s legacy and open up the country to foreign investment. The EBRD invested more than €100mn in Uzbekistan last year after it re-entered the Uzbek market.
Moreover, the EBRD plans to put a managing director for the Central Asian region in Kazakhstan next year as a recognition of its commitment to the ex-Soviet state, which stands as one of the bank’s top five markets.
The EBRD is also considering buying a minority stake in Kazakhtelecom, which stands as the largest telecom carrier in Kazakhstan. That would help make the company more
attractive when Kazakh authorities float the company later this year.
The development bank is also helping Kazakhstan’s new Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which is seeking to establish itself as a financial hub. It hoped to assist the AIFC to “get up on its feet”, the Chakrabarti noted.
“The EBRD’s positive attitude towards Central Asia is partly thanks to Uzbekistan’s ongoing market reforms”
Chakrabarti also welcomed Astana’s proposal to establish a “Central Asian Schengen zone”, allowing foreigners to visit the region on a single visa. Both Uzbek and Kazakh state-run news agencies have been reporting on the proposal in recent months.
“That would be a game changer for the region”, Chakrabarti told Reuters.
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Putin promises guns and butter in state of the nation speech
Ben Aris in Berlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave one of the most aggressive speeches of his career on March 1, promising the population a lot more “butter” and explicitly targeting the USA with “guns” if Washington continued to bully his country with sanctions and threaten it with missiles.
The speech was widely anticipated as the show-
Slaying of journalist sparks Slovak coalition crisis
bne IntelliNews
Pressure is mounting on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, whose posthumously published article alleged mafia infiltration of his government.
Bela Bugar, the head of the junior coalition party Most-Hid, which holds three ministries in
Putin promised to increase the size of the economy by 50% in his next term of office.
case for the likely policies that will dominate
his next six-year presidential term. Russia goes to the polls on March 18 in an election that Putin is expected to win without a significant challenge.
But no-one was expecting the multimedia presen-
See page 2
Interior Minister Robert Kalinak has been attacked for his alleged links
to controversial businessmen.
Fico’s government, called for the resignation of Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, who has been under fire over a separate tax fraud scandal, the Basternak affair. Most-Hid argues only a new interior minister can investigate Kuciak’s
See page 4
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