Round-Up
Weekly Round-Up: December 28 – January 1
A weekly review of events in the Caspian region. This week: Turkmenistan awards $10 billion gas field contract, while Georgian wineries adapt and innovate. Kazakhstan seeks to dominate global wheat and uranium markets and Azerbaijan eyes up diverse energy routes.
Turkmenistan: Gas and Construction
Turkmenistan has awarded gas field service contracts worth an estimated $9.74 billion to companies from China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates to develop one of the world’s largest deposits of the fuel. Bloomberg reports that as much as 30 billion cbm of natural gas a year could be extracted from the South Yolotan deposit.
According to Julian Lee, an energy analyst quoted in the article, “Turkmenistan’s policy of gas export diversification away from northern routes to Russia is clearly focused on the east to China and the south to Iran. Whether it will include a western element to Europe remains to be seen.”
Trend News, meanwhile, reports that Ashgabat is working to increase the amount of Uzbek goods that transit through Turkmenistan. The president has approved a proposal aimed at improving tariff terms for goods moving between the two countries.
Government news agency Turkmenistan.ru reports that Bouygues Batiment International is set to begin a number of major construction projects in the country. The contract signed on December 29 includes plans for the construction of an additional building of the Houses of Parliament, a complex of buildings for the Institute for International Relations, a new building for the National Institute of Sports and Tourism and a new office for the State Commercial Bank “Halkbank”.
Georgia: Innovation and the wine industry
The Washington Post reports suggesting that Russian imports on Georgian wine has led producers to attempt to increase the quality of their produce. Soviet-era fermentation tanks are being replaced with small, labor-intensive qvevru – a return to the winemaking techniques of the pre-Soviet days – with many large wineries are hoping to target American markets.
News agency Apa.az reports that Georgia is joining with Azerbaijan and Armenia in an attempt to create a joint wine brand, “Caucasian bouquet.” According to the article, 17 Armenian, 13 Georgian and nine Azeri wines will be sold under the label.
Kazakhstan: The global giant in wheat and uranium
According to reports in Agrimoney.com, Kazakhstan is to become a growing force in the global wheat trade weakening the hold of Western exporters. While difficulties in transporting the grain has previously hindered export deals, the customs union with Belarus and Russia will fuel a “substantial rise” in Kazakh wheat exports by allowing easier access to ports, UkrAgroConsult said.
The Financial Times reports that copper producer Kazakhmys has secured long-awaited funding for what is set to be its biggest project with a $2.7bn loan from China’s state-run Development Bank and SamrukKazyna, the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund. About $2bn of the loan will fund the development of the Boschekul copper project in northern Kazakhstan, which has been in the pipeline since 2006.
When Boschekul reaches full production, it could produce about 100,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate annually. The development of the project had previously been delayed due to difficulties in obtaining financing.
Reuters reports that Kazatomprom has raised it’s earlier forecasts for uranium production, stating that the company will produce 13,900 tonnes of uranium this year and 18,000 tonnes in 2010. The Central Asian state became the world’s largest uranium producer this year and has been responsible for the bulk of global output growth in the last few years. A global shortage of uranium is expected in 2016, and Kazatomprom hopes to fill the gap.
Azerbaijan: Railways and Energy
Tehran Times notes that Iran has passed a new double-taxation avoidance bill, in order to ease trade with Azerbaijan.
The Georgian Messenger reports that Azerbaijan is currently looking around for energy transport routes that would by pass Turkey. One of the routes being considered runs through Georgia, with the oil and gas going on through the Black Sea and either Ukraine or Romania. The possibility of sending Azeri oil through the Odessa-Brody pipeline, with a possible extension through Poland, is also being discussed.
Today.az offers an interview with the Head of Azerbaijan Railways Arif Asgarov. Among the developments in the past year, Asgarov noted a new, more efficient method of inspection and registration of passenger trains running from Azerbaijan to Russia. He also pointed to a new loan agreement with the World Bank worth $450 million which would be used to “purchase new cars, renew signaling systems, telecommunications and electrical supply and apply financial and accounting system.”
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