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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Russia

Belarusian Gold, Forex Reserves at Record High

After Belarus’ reserves were depleted last year owing to a severe financial crisis, it has achieved the set 2012 target of US$7 billion in forex and gold reserves in the very first week, the National Bank of Belarus said in a statement earlier this month.

As local information agency BelTA reports, the increase in the gold and foreign exchange reserves was facilitated by the second tranche of the EurAsEC Anticrisis Fund loan to the tune of US$440 million and the transfer of part of the syndicated loan provided to OAO Belaruskali by Sberbank of Russia and the Eurasian Development Bank.

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Issue

Kazakhstan to Join WTO by End of 2012

Kazakhstan expects to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by December 2012, KazTAG reported Timur Sulejmenov, vice minister of economic development, as saying.

Negotiations on the post-Soviet republic’s WTO accession have been on-going for more than 14 years. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the country applied for membership in the WTO in April 1996 and circulated its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime in 1996. Kazakhstan’s Working Party met for the first time in March 1997.

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Central Asia Science & Technology

EBRD to Invest 100 Mln Euros in Kazakhstan’s Economy

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering financing renewable energy projects – wind farms in particular – in Kazakhstan in 2012, a bank official told reporters.

“We are considering two or three projects for an amount of up to 100 million euros (US$133 million) and are still considering whether this will be debt or equity,” said Riccardo Puliti, EBRD managing director and head of energy and natural resources.

Kazakhstan, which has tripled oil production in the last decade on its way to becoming Central Asia’s largest economy, is seeking investment to develop wind, solar and hydroelectric projects to reduce a power deficit in parts of the country’s regions.

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Central Asia International Relations Issue Politics Russia

Kyrgyz-Russian Firm to Supply U.S. Air Base in Kyrgyzstan

A Russian controlled Gazpromneft-Aero Kyrgyzstan says it will begin supplying 20 percent of aviation fuel required by a vital U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan from November.

The fuel supply contract was signed last week between U.S. Defense Logistics Agency and Gazpromneft Aero-Kyrgyzstan.

“The Americans have to be certain that we can deal with that volume of supplies. And maybe then [we] will start delivering more than 50 percent of the base’s needs,” said Tilek Isayev, head of the Gazpromneft-Aero Kyrgyzstan.

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Finance & Taxes Issue

Kazakhstan to Raise Export Duties on Oil Products

Kazakhstan’s government has raised export duties on petroleum products, the national press reports.

The decree, signed by Prime Minister Karim Massimov on September 5, was published in the national press last Saturday, September 17. The new export duty rates will come into force from September 27.

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Central Asia Legal & Regulatory Politics

Turkmenistan Has First Open Trial Since Niyazov Cult Time

Turkmenistan’s Supreme Court has sentenced three central bank officials for bribery at the end of a Niyazov-style open trial, unprecedented under current president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. State television showed the open trial last Friday.

Berdymukhammedov predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, who enjoyed a bizarre personality cult during his 21-year rule until he died suddenly of a heart attack in December 2006, had routinely held show trials of top officials to demonstrate his attempts to root out corruption.

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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Finance & Taxes Issue Legal & Regulatory Politics

Ukraine to Confirm Pension Reform for IMF Tranche

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has approved an unpopular pension reform bill set as a key requirement to unlock a US$15.6 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund to the Ukrainian economy.

The bill, approved early Friday, is designed to overhaul Ukraine’s Soviet-era pension system as the government seeks to slash spending in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.

Ukraine’s parliament approved a government bill on pension reform at first reading on June 16.

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Central Asia Culture & History Issue Politics

Mongolians in Korea Celebrate Naadam

Mongolians in South Korea will celebrate their traditional Naadam Festival on June 26 for the first time since the Mongolian diaspora had been formed in the country.

The festival will be organized by the efforts of Mongolian Association in Ujinbu.

Golomt and Khaan Banks, headhunted in Ulaanbaatar, together with Seoul Global Center and two Korean lenders Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank announced will sponsor the cultural event, infoMongolia.com reports.

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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Russia

Georgia Wants to Double FDI to US$1 Billion

Georgia expects foreign investment to double to US$1 billion this year, with energy and tourism sectors leading the way, its economy minister Vera Kobalia said last Wednesday.

Foreign direct investment in Georgia fell 16 percent in 2010 year on year to US$553 million, official data shows, well below the US$1 billion target already set for last year. Nevertheless, FDI still accounted for 5 percent of gross domestic product in 2010.