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The Regions This Week
July 12, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Eurasia
Authorities detained dozens of protestors in Kazakhstan's two largest cities, as multiple rallies were staged across Kazakhstan in an ongoing series of protests against recently elected President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev. Rallies against the ruling regime, which includes former President Nursultan Nazarbayev who still retains power, have become commonplace in Kazakhstan in the past five months.
Uzbek state-run car producer GM Uzbekistan was renamed UZAUTO Motors, after the
US company completed its withdrawal from the country. As the most populous state in Central Asia Uzbekistan is the natural choice for manufacturers and has been surprisingly successful in developing its automotive sector from scratch.
The EU will fund and implement regional programmes worth a total of €72mn across Central Asia and Afghanistan under the revised EU Central Asia Strategy. “Our new strategy
for the region will enable us to cooperate more closely with the countries of Central Asia in tackling the challenges they face,” Federica Mogherini, Vice President of the Commission and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said.
In the first five months of 2019, Iran’s steel mills produced a total of 10.62mn tonnes of raw steel, Financial Tribune reported. The five-month fig- ures are 5.5% up y/y, according to World Steel Association statistics.
LBGTQ activists gathered outside the Georgian interior ministry in an impromptu demonstra- tion after the authorities banned the planned Tbilisi Pride march. After the decision was an- nounced 40 demonstrators, many of them carry- ing placards or rainbow flags, protested outside the interior ministry, demanding minister Giorgi Gakharia’s resignation.
Armenians remain optimistic about the future and pleased with their government, a new poll by the International Republican Institute (IRI) showed. Three quarters (72%) of respondents approve of the government’s work and 60% think the country is going in the “right direction”.
China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region launched a new air freight route linking Urumqi with Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty. The char- ter routes is to be operated by SF Airlines, the aviation branch of China’s SF Express.
Former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev refused to obey a subpoena, delivered to his residence near Bishkek, calling for him to report to the interior ministry for questioning as a “witness” in an unspecified criminal investigation. Atambayev, who currently faces five counts of misconduct in office when he was president
in 2011-2017, refused on the grounds that the authorities “first must fix their illegal decisions."
The EBRD and German DEG are each lend-
ing €5mn to Azerbaijan’s largest supermarket chain, Araz, to help expand its distribution and warehouse capacity. The investment will see Araz expand its distribution centre and more than triple its warehousing capacity to 42,600 square metres.
Uzbek state-run oil and gas producer Uzbekneft- egaz announced that a new “gas condensate field” was discovered at the Kushkir field in Uz- bekistan’s Ustyurt region. Uzbekistan is currently conducting exploration at several investment blocks in the Ustyurt Region.
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, killing several people and injuring others. Iran suffers from several temblors annually, however, in recent months seismic activity in the country has increased with several quakes occurring in the west of the country in the majority Kurdish areas.