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The Regions This Week
May 18, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Eurasia
French energy major Total said it would abandon the multi-billion dollar South Pars Phase 11 gas field development project in the Iranian Persian Gulf unless it can secure a waiver
from Washington’s sanctions. In July last year, Total became the first big Western oil and gas company to return to Iran since the lifting of crippling sanctions.
Dozens of protesters burst into City Hall in Yerevan, demanding the resignation of the Armenian capital's mayor over the stripping
of trees from a formerly lush park outside the building. The spirit of protest is clearly alive and well in Armenia following the non-violent revolution that made protest leader Nikol Pashinian prime minister on May 8.
Investment from the European Union in Azerbaijan currently stands at more than $15bn, the Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev said. The bulk of the investment went into energy, transport and trade.
The Turkmen authorities decided to ban cars of all colours except for white, the opposition-run news website Chronicles of Turkmenistan reported. The ban is the latest move against goods the Turkmen government has decided to cut access to for vague reasons — other items banned include imported bikinis as well as fingernail polishes, hair dyes and gold jewellery for government-employed citizens.
A passenger aircraft parts production plant opened in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The
plant set up by Georgian-Israeli joint venture Aerostructure Technologies Cyclone is intended to serve Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier.
The Tajik authorities set a new bar for crackdowns on dissidents as 32-year-old Tajik citizen, Alijon Sharipov, was sentenced to 10 years in prison
for simply viewing, liking and sharing videos of
the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).
Oil-pipeline servicing company Kazpromlogistic saw dozens of its workers go on strike this week at Kazakhstan's Qalamqas oil field. Workers in the Mangystau region demanded improved working conditions and higher wages, and are refusing to resume work until all of their demands are met.
Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Sapar Isakov was summoned for further questioning relating to heating outages that hit Bishkek last winter. On his way into the SCNC building, Isakov told journalists he suspects the government is attempting to develop a corruption case against the previous presidential administration.
The EBRD is providing a $9.7mn loan to Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar to improve the city’s waste management. Ulanbaatar is a heavily polluted city and its authorities are attempting to make the city “greener” by moving away from coal- fired plants while also improving waste collection practices.
The Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Iran signed an interim free trade agreement (FTA). Trade between the EEU — the members
of which are Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus — and Iran reached $2.7bn last year.
The Uzbek central bank will allow citizens to buy gold ingots. The draft law "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones" proposes selling gold bullion to individuals and legal entities.
At least one person was killed in the southern Iranian city of Kazeroon during violent demonstrations in which protesters set fire
to a police station. Kazeroon had previously experienced peaceful protests for more than 10 months, and the latest disturbances reportedly occurred when the city council announced it was set to redraw the boundaries of the city.