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The Regions This Week
November 16, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Eurasia
The Asian Development Bank approved a $500mn loan to the National Power Grid Strengthening Project in Turkmenistan. The project seeks to improve transmission networks, upgrade the reliability of the remote Central Asian nation's power supply, and increase electricity exports to neighbouring countries.
Use of antibiotics in Mongolia, Turkey and Iran is running at extraordinarily high rates, with Mon- golians using the medicines most of all among nationalities surveyed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Report on Surveillance of Antibiotic Consumption. The WHO says urgent action is needed to cut unnecessary consumption of the medicines.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadly prison riot in Tajikistan. The prison riot in northern Tajikistan saw at least 24 people killed.
Eleven political parties and alliances filed to com- pete in Armenia’s December snap general elec- tion. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has said he wants the composition of the parliament to reflect the new political realities in Armenia.
Uzbekistan Railways will launch a new Tash- kent-Moscow passenger train which will pass through the Karakalpakstan autonomous region. The new train appears to be designed for Uzbek migrant workers, many of whom work in Russia. Remittances sent home by migrant workers are equivalent to 13-15% of Uzbekistan's GDP.
Kazakhstan held a nationwide exam to test university students’ proficiency with the Latin alphabet as part of the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation’s shift away from the Cyrillic alphabet. The Kazakh authorities intend to phase out Cyrillic
by 2025. The switchover has been interpreted as a geopolitical move emphasising Kazakh culture and distancing Kazakhstan from Russia.
Azerbaijan’s moves in ongoing jockeying for ad-
vantageous territory “could thaw the frozen conflict” between Azerbaijan and Armenia over disputed lands, according to open source and social media investigation unit Bellingcat. The recent moves by Azerbaijan along the border of Nakhichevan “have been the largest takeover of territory since the end of the war,” it said.
Iran executed a currency trader known as the "Sultan of Sovereigns" and an accomplice by hanging. Vahid Mazloumin and another member of his currency trading network both received the death penalty after hoarding some two tonnes of gold coins to manipulate prices, the Iranian Stu- dents' News Agency reported.
The European Parliament warned Georgia over high-level corruption. While Georgia has so far successfully tackled low-level corruption, more efforts are needed against high-level corruption, according to a resolution endorsed by the Euro- pean Parliament on the European Union – Georgia Association Agreement.
Austria rejected hosting the EU’s proposed spe- cial purpose vehicle (SPV) for Iran, designed to enable European companies to keep trading with Iran despite the ultra-tough US sanctions regime targeted at the country and almost anyone who does business with it.
The European Commission increased its financial contribution to efforts aimed at overcoming the legacy of uranium mining in Central Asia by €10mn. The Environmental Remediation Account for Central Asia programme began operating in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2015.
Kazakh GDP grew by 4.1% y/y in the first 10 months of this year, Economy Minister Timur Suleimenov said. The growth rate stands largely unchanged in comparison to the figures reported in the first nine months, first half and first quarter of 2018.