Page 7 - bne_newspaper_June_21_2019

The Regions This Week
June 21, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Eurasia
Nearly 4,000 people were arrested during the rallies after Kazakhstan’s presidential election, Kazakh Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbayev admitted to journalists. The number is more than fourfold the number of arrests previously disclosed by the Kazakh authorities, originally reported at just under 1,000 people.
A special commission elected former UK ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Robin Ord-Smith
as Kyrgyzstan’s business ombudsman, Bishkek-based business expert Azamat Akeneyev told reporters. The post was established by
the Kyrgyz authorities in January to protect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of entrepreneurs.
An Swiss-Uzbek joint venture, Natural Gas- Stream, will invest over $701.41mn in a project to explore and develop gas fields in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government has issued a resolution and approved a feasibility study for a project aimed at conducting geological exploration of the Sechankul, Akjar and Chimbay investment blocks and developing the Urga, Akchalak and Chandyr groups of gas fields.
President Hassan Rouhani officially inaugurated the new Salam Terminal at Iran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA), Mehr News Agency reported. The initial plan was for Salaam Terminal to be the departure point for pilgrims flying to the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia. However, local media reports suggested most
of IKIA’s international flights may be operated from the new terminal while the main terminal is renovated.
Armenia has made progress in strengthening its regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety, according to a report from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts. However, the country, which receives around 40% of its electricity from the Metsamor nuclear power plant, still faces challenges, including a shortage
of qualified and experienced staff at the regulatory body, the report added.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office charged the daughter of one of the founding members
of ENRC, a Kazakh mining company that delisted from the FTSE 100 following corruption allegations, in connection with a long-running corruption probe into ENRC. Anna Machkevitch, 36, is the daughter of Alexander Mashkevich, one of ENRC’s trio of founders, and a director at the London-based ALM Services UK.
Uzbekistan plans to set up a joint venture
with France’s Orano to explore and possibly develop uranium deposits in the Navoi region,
a draft government decree revealed. Uzbekistan’s uranium output amounted to 2,404 tonnes in 2018, unchanged from the same level produced in 2017, according to the Uzbek authorities.
The British government has settled a £1.25bn ($1.6bn) damages claim brought by Iran’s largest private bank, Bank Mellat, in an 11th-hour, out-of-court deal. The case was brought following a dispute over sanctions and alleged links to Tehran’s nuclear development programme.
European Union member states adopted a new strategy to provide a "new policy framework for EU engagement with the countries of Central Asia over the coming years”. The EU ministers welcomed “strengthened relations” between the EU and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan following the adoption of the first EU strategy on Central Asia in 2007.
Citizens of Azerbaijan purchased 466 properties in Turkey in the first five months of this year, 134 more than in the same period of 2018, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). Turkey, facing a deep economic downturn, has been easing the rules via which Turkish citizenship can be obtained with a substantial property purchase.