Page 8 - bne_newspaper_November_02_2018

The Regions This Week
November 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eurasia
Mongolia’s President Khaltmaa Battulga threatened to go on a hunger strike or stage a sit-in to pressure parliament to voluntarily dis- band following his criticism that it has failed to stand up to the country's economic challenges. Battulga’s actions are mostly seen as a political stunt ahead of upcoming elections in 2020, as his opposition Democratic Party is hoping to greatly increase its number of MPs.
Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Zoyyir Mirzayev was fired after a Radio Ozodlik report revealed that he humiliated a group of farmers and lower- ranking officials by forcing them to stand in a ditch full of cold water as a punishment for not irrigating crops.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are the only Cen- tral Asia improvers in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report, with the other countries in the region losing ground. Kazakhstan saw
its rank improve to 28th position from 36th last year among the 190 ranked economies. Kyr- gyzstan rose seven places to 70th in the ranking.
Digital rationing books were commissioned by Iran ahead of next week’s intensifying of the US’ sanctions-led economic assault on the country. Restricted sales of petroleum — even though Iran produces its own — have, meanwhile, been brought in as the Islamic Republic braces for sanctions that from November 5 will seek to put in place a worldwide embargo on its economi- cally crucial oil, gas and petrochemical exports.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway linking Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will open for passenger traffic in the third quarter of 2019. The line was formally opened a year ago, a full decade after the agreement to build it was signed.
There was a near photo-finish in Georgia’s presidential election first-round vote. Now French-born former foreign minister Salome Zurabishvili is to face another ex-foreign minis- ter Grigol Vashadze in a runoff for the Georgian presidency to be held by December 2.
Kyrgyzstan’s total foreign trade turnover grew by 9.5% y/y to $4.28bn in the first eight months of 2018. Trade expanded on the back of an ongo- ing recovery seen in Kyrgyzstan’s imports thanks to the modest 1H economic stabilisation of trade partners including Russia and Kazakhstan.
The EBRD upgraded its forecast for Armenia’s real GDP growth to 5.5% in 2018 and 5.0% in 2019. The EBRD said: “Armenia’s economy is growing rapidly. Following a near stagnation in 2016, real GDP growth accelerated from 7.5 per cent in 2017 to an estimated 8.3 per cent year- on-year in the first half of 2018.”
Fitch Solutions warned Tajikstan's crackdown on Gorno-Badakhshan creates a threat of civil unrest. The government clashed with the local ethnic Pamiri population in the region following an assassination of a provincial leader in 2012, but no major conflict followed the event.
Kazakhstan awarded green power supply con- tracts worth 857.93 MW via tenders held in the year to date, Renewables Now reported citing Kazakhstan Electricity and Power Market Opera- tor (KOREM). The Kazakh energy ministry an- nounced plans earlier this year to raise the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the coun- try’s total electricity output to 3% by 2020 from the current 1%.