Contracts
Weekly Roundup: March 1-7, 2010
This week: Azerbaijan sees concrete results from economic diversification, Kyrgyzstan prepares for more possible U.S. Department of Defense investment, Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank receives U.S. bankruptcy protection, and Turkmenistan’s commodities exchange…what are people buying this week?
Azerbaijan non-Oil Sector to Develop Over 4% in 2010 - IMF
The IMF has reported that non-oil sector development in Azerbaijan should top 4% in 2010, a reflection of Azerbaijan’s growing efforts to diversify its economy. Specific sectors such as agriculture, transportation and logistics, IT and regional consultancy services continue to grow. According to the Global Arab Network:
“The Azerbaijani authorities successfully responded to the crisis. As fiscal revenues fell, the government appropriately cut non-priority spending and financed only ongoing capital investment projects. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) successfully maintained financial stability by keeping the exchange rate stable and injecting liquidity into the banking system. The stability of the exchange rate reduced inflation, reversed the temporary increase in dollarization, and avoided a negative impact on households’ and banks’ balance sheets. CBA foreign exchange reserves declined, but remained comfortable at US$5.5 billion at end-2009.
Non-oil GDP is expected to recover to 4.2 percent in 2010, but downside risks remain. Oil production is projected to grow by only 1.3 percent, implying overall GDP growth of only 2.7 percent. Along with the recovery of the non-oil sector and the rise in international commodity prices, inflation in 2010 is expected to increase slightly to 4 percent. Growth will be lower if businesses remain pessimistic or external demand recovers only modestly.”
Commodities Exchange News Courtesy of Turkmenistan Weekly Energy Review:
This past week 49 transactions were concluded at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan. The transactions in the foreign currency were concluded for various products.
The buyers from the United Arab Emirates, Britain and Switzerland concluded the transactions for low sulphur reduced fuel oil, aviation kerosene, kerosene technical and lighting kerosene produced at Turkmenbashi oil refineries. Liquefied gas from the Nayip terminal was bought by the businessmen from Afghanistan and the UAE. The businessmen from the UAE bought iodine grade A, from Iran – sodium sulphate of different brands and from Russia – carbon black. The transactions in the foreign currency was concluded for ginned cotton, cotton yarn and cotton wool, confectionery and knitted goods in a wide range, karakul wool and raw silk. The buyer countries: Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, UAE, Virgin Islands, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, United Kingdom, the Marshall Islands. The transactions totaled over US$ 79.010 million.
Businessmen from the Virgin Islands, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, India, Belize, Mauritius, UAE, Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Iran, Pakistan and Great Britain bought cattle skin, raw silk, refined cottonseed oil, cotton flake, washed goat wool for deposit manats. The transactions totalled was 16.947 million manats.
Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and the United States
(via SRI) Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank has been granted U.S. federal bankruptcy protection. In ruling, U.S. officials pointed out that the benefits of allowing BTA to restructure its $11.6 billion dollar debt outweigh any hardship faced by creditors. BTA was taken over by Kazakhstna’s state run holding company “Samruk-Kazyna” in 2009 as the bank began failing. Samruk-Kazyna currently holds a controlling 75% stake in BTA Bank. Read more
Kyrgyzstan
Eurasianet.org is reporting that the U.S. is considering investing in another military facility in Kyrgyzstan. A training facility, to be constructed somewhere in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan would represent another cash infusion into the country, as well as more numerous local contracting opportunities for Kyrgyz and U.S. firms alike. According to Eurasianet.org, “The United States has already spent millions of dollars on upgrading and constructing training centers for Kyrgyz security forces,” this includes the almost $10 million dollar special forces training facility in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. The new facility in Batken is projected to run about $5.5 million dollars.
Talks are still ongoing. Read more…
Post Your Comment