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The Regions This Week
March 15, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Eurasia
Lukoil signed an agreement to explore territory in the northwest of Uzbekistan for new hydro- carbon reserves, IFG Capital said, quoting the Russian company’s president Vagit Alekperov. It was previously announced that Lukoil plans to increase gas production in Uzbekistan to 14.6bn cubic metres (cm) in 2018 and 19bn cm in 2019, up from 9.09bn cm.
Turkmenistan filed a lawsuit against Belarusian state-owned construction company Belharkhim- pram with the Arbitration Institute of the Stock- holm Chamber of Commerce, seeking compensa- tion for the failure to complete the construction
of a $1.1 potash fertiliser plant in Turkmenistan’s eastern Lebap province.
The border between Iran and Azerbaijan ap- pears to have become a hot zone for black mar- ket bandits, with a suspected smuggler and a patrol soldier shot dead in two incidents reported between March 10 and 12. The collapse of the Iranian rial (IRR), brought about by the reimposi- tion of US sanctions against Tehran last year, has opened up a wealth of illicit hard-to-resist trading opportunities.
Prices of new homes in Kazakhstan grew by 3.1% y/y to an average KZT277,457 (€652.7)
per square metre (sqm) in February, latest data released from the State Statistics Committee shows. The annual increase in the prices of new homes was in part due to the economic recovery in Kazakhstan — the country's hydrocarbon ex- port-dependent economy grew by 4.1% in 2018.
Georgia's central bank cut its benchmark inter- est rate, the refinancing rate, to 6.5% from 6.75%, citing forecasting that suggested annual inflation would stay close to its 3% target this year. The regulator also hiked the required reserves for forex liabilities.
Uzbekistan’s Uzbekneftegaz and Honeywell discussed projects in the oil and gas sector. Honeywell is reportedly interested in providing “advanced solutions” in Uzbekistan’s petrochemi- cal industry.
Iran is to launch four new phases at South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, the oil ministry said on Twitter. The phases are to have a production capacity of up to 110mn cubic metres per day,
it added.
Mongolia’s foreign trade surplus stood at $256.1mn in the first two months of 2019, up from $112.4mn recorded in January-February 2018, Montsame news agency reported. The surplus expanded thanks to 30.4% y/y growth in exports to $1.1bn, driven by growing shipments of mineral products. Coal consignments were the major driving force behind Mongolia’s exports throughout 2017 and 2018.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubi-
shi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) signed an agreement with Uzbek state-run energy firm Uzbekenergo on the construction of a $432mn combined-cycle power plant with a capacity of 450MW in Navoi Region, investment firm IFG Cap- ital said. Uzbekenergo earlier announced plans to invest a total of $4.4bn in 14 projects this year — the new plant likely falls under that commitment.
Azerbaijan started large-scale military manoeuvres prior to an expected first meeting between its President Ilham Aliyev and new Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Azerbaijan's defence ministry said that up to 10,000 troops, 500 tanks, 300 missile systems, aircraft, and other military equipment are to feature in the five-day exercises.