Page 5 - bne_newspaper_June_28_2019

The Regions This Week
June 28, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Eurasia
The Kazakh government ordered the evacuation of a town of 44,000 residents after a nearby munitions depot was set aflame and exploded injuring at least 31 people and killing one. The authorities also halted railway traffic in the area following the blasts. The blasts occurred at a military base near the town of Arys located in southern Turkestan Region.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov named his son Serdar Berdymukhamedov, 37, as governor of Turkmenistan's central Ahal province, Turkmen state-run television said. The appointment adds fuel to rumours about Serdar’s potential future as Turkmenistan's next president.
Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party announced that it is ready to conduct parliamentary elections according to the proportional representation electoral system starting from 2020, as opposed to from 2024, as was planned as part of adjustments to the new Constitutional provisions).
The Iranian government is set to open a border market located on the Turkmenistan frontier in North Khorasan province, Otagh News reported. Iran continues to relax border crossings with
its northern neighbours as part of its push to clear obstacles to trade in line with the start of Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) free trade zone agreed with Tehran.
Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of late Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, requested clemency
from President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Karimova was imprisoned on charges of massive telecoms and other corruption. The plea comes after $1.2bn of her assets were reclaimed by Uzbekistan.
Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister, Parviz Shakhbazov said he supported rolling over the present global agreement on oil production cuts,
due to expire at the end of June. Members of
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other leading oil producers
agreed to reduce their overall oil output by 1.2mn b/d between January 1, 2019 and the end of June as they sought to evenly balance the oil market.
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office approved a move by the Kyrgyz parliament to strip former president Almazbek Atambayev of his immunity from prosecution. The Kyrgyz parliament made the move on June 20, claiming Atambayev abused his powers while in office.
Tajikistan’s gold production rose by 60.8% y/y in the first five months of 2019, while its silver output rose by 37.6%, Asia-Plus reported, citing Tajik government figures. The Tajik authorities did not disclose the volumes of gold and silver produced in the period, the report said.
Moscow could resume exports of wheat to Iran soon, according to a TASS report of comments made by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak. Iran imports most of its wheat via the Caspian Sea. Much of it previously came from Eurasian neighbours including Russia and Kazakhstan. After 2016, Iran attempted to grow more of its own food supplies as part of its “resistance economy” effort, favoured by hardliners.
Former Uzbek Prosecutor-General Rashidjon Qodirov was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of corruption, extortion, tax evasion, money laundering, financial fraud and obstruction of jus- tice. Qodirov was among officials arrested in 2018 as part of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s purge of top officials who served under the late Islam Karimov.
The Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), Kazakhstan's regional financial services hub, said it is interested in attracting Chinese invest- ment in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects and medium sized enterprises in central Eurasia coun- tries, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. The AIFC was officially launched in July 2018 along with the Astana International Exchange (AIX), which is 25.1%-owned by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.