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The Regions This Week
May 5, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eurasia
The UK’s House of Lords published a report recommending Downing Street no longer rely on the US to steer economic relations with Iran. It says Britain must work more closely with Europe to ensure the nuclear deal agreed be- tween the major powers and Tehran stays intact, despite the Trump administration’s approach. The report says post-Brexit Britain must seek to profit from post-sanctions Iran.
UK Export Finance (UKEF) is in talks with Iran to facilitate financing Airbus and Boeing air- craft sales to Iran Air. With the US Trump ad- ministration hostile to the multilateral nuclear agreement, financing for big-ticket purchases
is tough to secure for the Iranians as Western banks, nervous of unilateral sanctions retained by Washington, refrain from offering banking ar- rangements.
Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna is aiming to finish privatisations of its small- sized companies by the end of 2017 and proceed with delayed IPO plans for its largest companies in 2018. First on that list for an IPO will be flag- ship carrier Air Astana and uranium producer Kazatomprom, KazMunaiGaz, Samruk-Energo power company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy railway company and Kazpost.
Azerbaijan and Armenia’s rivalry is showing through at multinational organisations of which they are members. The Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE has reportedly forced the closure of the OSCE mission in Armenia, insisting a hu- manitarian programme the OSCE was running
in Armenia could “strengthen the capacity and skills of relevant Armenian structures in [break- away region] Nagorno-Karabakh”. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s presidency candidacy at Unesco is allegedly being undermined by Armenia’s “dirty campaign”.
It is thought at least three dozen workers were killed by a huge explosion at Zemestanyurt
coal mine in Golestan province, northeastern Iran. It was reportedly ignited during attempts to jump-start a locomotive. Rescue teams were still working to establish the exact death toll. Some 25 workers were taken to hospital suffering gas inhalation. Oxygen was injected into a tunnel to increase survival chances for those trapped. Iran has huge gas reserves but many rural areas still use coal for heating.
Maltese PM Joseph Muscat called a snap gen- eral election as a vote of confidence after his wife was accused of receiving dubious pay- ments from Azerbaijan. Egrant Inc, a company owned by Michelle Muscat, allegedly received a $1mn payment from a Dubai-based bank owned by Leyla Aliyeva, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s daughter and, it is claimed, continued to receive “loan payments” of $100,000 biweekly over January-March 2016.
Iran’s Middle East and Sina banks have been cleared to open branches in Bavaria, Germany. The announcement was taken as a sign that Ber- lin is fully committed to the nuclear deal allow- ing substantial new business opportunities with the dropping of international sanctions.
Mayor of Tehran and presidential candidate Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf pledged to create at least 5mn jobs if elected. Qalibaf is now seen
by many as the challenger with the best chance of dislodging current President Hassan Rouhani following a televised debate last week which saw supposed frontline rival Ebrahim Raisi overshad- owed by the mayor.
Russia wrote off $240mn of Kyrgyzstan’s debt, turning it into development assistance. Moscow pledged to increase support to the country in line with its accession into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), but an economic slowdown due to low oil prices has hindered Russia’s ability to follow up on promises. The debt amnesty is one way of meeting some pledges.