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The Regions This Week
December 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Eurasia
Uzbekistan plans to attract $4.1bn of foreign di-
rect investment by 2022, up from $1.67bn in 2018, according to the country's finance ministry. Cen- tral Asia's most populous nation has in the past two years been opening up to foreign investors by carrying out reforms.
The Turkmen authorities introduced an unoffi- cial ban on featuring “the earth pig” in New Year decorations for 2019 in the capital city Ashgabat, opposition-run news website Chronicles of Turk- menistan reported. The explanation is that the symbol of the new year can be deemed offensive to Islamic traditions, as pigs are considered un- clean animals in Islam.
The newlywed son-in-law of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani resigned from a senior institu- tional appointment two days after taking up the post after accusations of nepotism. The exit of 33-year-old Kambiz Mehdizadeh came after re- ports said he married one of Rouhani's daughters in August.
The Kyrgyz parliament approved a bill that will strip the immunity of its ex-presidents, in a first reading held on December 13. A total of 100 law- makers in the 120-seat chamber voted for the bill, while two voted against it. The other lawmakers were not present.
Energy major BP is interested in developing renewables in Azerbaijan. The company signed a memorandum of understanding on exploring potential opportunities for the development of renewable energy after Baku’s recent announce- ment that it has begun to formulate a legal framework for renewable energy sources.
The first trucks set off on the Lapis Lazuli trade corridor linking Afghanistan with Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Europe. Trucks carry-
ing dried fruit, herbs and textiles were bound for Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey as the new international trade route was inaugurated by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Italy’s Eni and US company GE Renewable Energy have launched construction works on the 48MW Badamsha Wind Farm in Kazakhstan. Badam- sha, located in Aktobe Region, marks Eni’s first large-scale investment in wind power and GE’s first onshore wind plant in Kazakhstan.
Iran urged the EU to press US authorities to allow the delivery of Airbus passenger aircraft purchased by Tehran, Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported. Under Washington’s reimposed sanctions regime targeted at Tehran, the US Treasury revoked licensing that would have allowed Airbus to deliver 100 ordered aircraft to help IranAir upgrade its ageing fleet.
Georgian lawmakers passed the government’s 2019 budget, with 91 votes for and nine against. The budget targets a deficit of 2.6% of GDP on assumptions of GDP growth of 4.5%. The coun- try’s economy expanded by 5.1% y/y in the first 10 months of 2018, up from 4.9% in the same period of 2017.
Gas distribution company Gazprom Armenia is planning to raise the capacity of the Abovyan underground gas storage facility to 300mn cubic metres. The Abovyan storage facility is an impor- tant component of Armenia’s energy security.
Kazakhstan’s bilateral trade with fellow mem- bers of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) grew by 7.2% y/y to $15.52bn in January-November. The rise in trade with Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia is attributable to growing world oil prices and rising oil output in the country, which supports growth in the Kazakh economy, boosting trade.