Mirroring Kazakhstan’s ongoing privatisation programme, Uzbekistan is hoping to raise $437 million in privatisation deals as early as this summer, with the sale of state-owned assets in 55 enterprises. In a new entry to the Central Asian market, food giant McDonald’s has announced that it will finally open a branch in Astana, whilst the EBRD has allocated $103 million to rebuilding a key Kazakh highway that connects Astana and Almaty. In Turkmenistan, the Turkmenbashi port is entering a significant period of renovation and modernisation, with plans afoot to modernise the Polypropylene terminal and also build a shipyard with the capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of steel per year.

At a meeting with officials from the London Stock Exchange and Barclays, a representative of the Kazakh Central Bank, Maria Khajiyeva, outlined the bank’s strategy of relaxing regulations, such as the requirement to set up an office in Kazakhstan, and offering stakes in some of its biggest companies in order to attract international stock investors. Meanwhile, in a visit to Moscow, Iran signed $40 billion worth of deals for projects including nuclear power construction and railways, as European banks discuss establishing branches in Tehran. In Kyrgyzstan, the government is planning to offer its shares of Alpha Telecom CJSC for sale through an auction.

The European Commission has apparently informed the Kyrgyz government that the country has received “GSP+” status, which means that Kyrgyzstan will now be able to export goods to the EU without paying customs duties on exported goods, in a move that could boost the country’s exports to the West. In Kazakhstan, a new steel factory is set to be built and President Nazarbayev has announced his government’s plans to meet the internal market’s demand for domestic oil products by 2018. Meanwhile, Iran’s trade ties continue to boom as two German chemical companies are ready to spend between €4 billion and €8 billion on developing petrochemical projects in the country, whilst Iran considers spending its recently unfrozen $100 billion on investments and projects abroad in order to avoid raising inflation rates.

Experts of Kalikova & Associates law firm prepared the review of the latest news in the sphere of electricity.

Prepared by experts of Kalikova & Associates law firm

Experts of Colibri law firm prepared the review of the latest news in the Legislation & Regulation of Kyrgyzstan’s Energy and Subsoil Sector

Prepared by expert of Colibri Law Firm

Author: Zhanyl Abdrakhmanova, partner of Colibri Law Firm

This edition contains the latest news in mining sphere of Kyrgyzstan. Prepared by specialists of Kalikova & Associates law firm.

Kazakhstan’s senate has approved the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank agreement that defines the country’s $729.3 million share in the bank’s capital, as many anticipate the AIIB becoming a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank within the region. In Uzbekistan, $843.8 million from its Fund for Reconstruction and Development is set to be allocated to the implementation of 27 projects included in the 2016 state investment programme, and the country is also set to use over $4 billion in foreign investments in 2016, with the lion’s share of these funds allocated to the fuel and energy sector. Meanwhile in Iran, electricity generation projects worth $30 billion are due to the opened up to foreign investors.

Developments in Iran are moving faster than expected, with the Iranian administration preparing to join the WTO as Iran’s minister of industry, mines and trade meets with his foreign counterparts to garner support for the country’s potential membership bid. This comes as both John Kerry and Senator Ben Cardin are positive about Iran’s compliance with the international agreement signed earlier this year, with the latter stating that some sanctions may be lifted as early as January. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is due to fill its 2016 budget gap with $2 billion in loans from the ADB and World Bank, and Uzbekistan announces a tender for the construction of the Turakurgan thermal power station in the country’s Namangan region.

In all developed countries, the war for talent is growing incredibly fast. Economic and political events in the early nineties had serious implications for emigration of highly skilled specialists (“HSS”). To date, there exist a global labor market and a growing number of jobs requiring special skills and expertise. Many countries compete to attract highly skilled scientific, technical and managerial personnel by undertaking regulatory measures to stimulate recruitment of such personnel.