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.

Iran gearing up to join the WTO

Iran is increasingly vocal about its readiness to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), a step that will involve a long negotiation process with challenges both domestically and abroad.

In preparation, the Hassan Rouhani administration is tackling the diplomatic mobilisation and economic reforms required for admission. This month, Iran’s minister of industry, mines and trade, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, attended the WTO’s high-level Ministerial Conference in Nairobi as an observer and announced that finalising its WTO membership is a “priority” for Iran. He also reportedly met with his counterparts from Finland, Spain and Russia to discuss bilateral trade relations and seek their support for Iran’s WTO ambitions.

The reason why the nuclear agreement matters to Iran’s accession is that any WTO member, including the United States, can veto a country from joining. With the agreement concluded, Iran now has a shot at gaining the necessary international support to join.

Some Iran sanctions may be lifted as soon as January

The United States has taken a step towards lifting at least some sanctions against Iran, with US Secretary of State John Kerry telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Tehran is fulfilling its obligations in a “transparent” and “verifiable” way under an international agreement on its nuclear programme. Kerry made the remarks in a letter sent to the committee on 16 December. On 17 December, the committee’s top Democrat, Senator Ben Cardin, said during a hearing that “it is likely that Iran will be in compliance and entitled to sanctions relief as early as January.”

Initially, the Obama administration estimated that it would not be until spring that Iran would be in compliance with the terms required for sanctions relief to begin.

The purpose of the deal, which involves the US, Iran and five other world powers, is to curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for giving Iran access to billions of dollars in frozen assets and oil revenue.

Iran ‘in talks’ for $4.5-billion pipeline to India

The managing director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) has said that Iran is discussing a plan to lay a $4.5-billion subsea pipeline to export natural gas to India.

However, Alireza Kameli also stated that a proposal for another pipeline between the two countries routed via Pakistan is off the table due to waning interest on the Indian side.

The NIGEC is negotiating the project with South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE).

The proposed pipeline, with an estimated capacity of approximately 31 million cubic metres of gas per day, may be built in about two years once the policy, financing and purchase tie-ups have been agreed.

Samruk-Kazyna announces six agreements totalling $4 billion

Samruk-Kazyna, the sovereign wealth fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has announced memorandums of understanding and agreements for five projects totalling $4 billion at the meeting of the Kazakhstan-China Business Council (KCBC).

The event was attended by more than 350 representatives from governments and businesses from both countries and included keynote remarks from Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov and Samruk-Kazyna’s CEO Umirzak Shukeyev.

Key announcements at the KCBC meeting included:

Kazakhstan to fund 2016 budget gap with $2 billion in ADB and World Bank loans

Kazakhstan plans to borrow $1 billion each from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank in order to finance its 2016 state budget deficit.

Kazakhstan’s parliament passed the budget last month, with an estimated deficit of 723.4 billion tenge ($2.2 billion).

Petronas delivers new projects to Turkmenistan

The head of the Petronas (Malaysia) group of companies, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, submitted new offers on cooperation in the fuel and energy sector to the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Petronas became the first foreign company to begin developing the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea under the 25-year Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) in the Block 1 Contract Area signed in 1996.

The businessman expressed his company’s interest in continuing the constructive business partnership and active participation in the economic projects of national and international importance initiated by Turkmenistan.

ILF to advise on $169-million modernisation at Tajikistan’s 126-MW hydroelectric project

ILF Consulting Engineers, based in Innsbruck, Germany, has announced that its group has signed a contract with the Tajik state-owned utility Open Stock Holding Power Co. (Barki Tojik) to provide project implementation consulting services for the modernisation of the 126-MW Kayrakkum hydroelectric facility on the Syr Darya River in northwest Tajikistan.

Details regarding the total amount of the ILF contract award are not immediately available. However, investment for the two modernisation phases totals $169 million.

The Kayrakkum scheme, which also includes Kayrakkum Reservoir, Kayrakkum Dam and a powerhouse, was commissioned in 1959. The powerhouse has six Kaplan turbines and most of the plant’s hydro electromechanical equipment has reached the end of its design life.

Centerra Gold slides as Kyrgyzstan halts talks on Kumtor

Kyrgyzstan’s government is in talks with Canada’s Centerra Gold over restructuring their joint Kumtor gold mining project.

Kyrgyzstan currently holds a 32.7% stake in Centerra, and had been trying to swap that for a 50% stake in the Kumtor mine, which accounts for up to 10% of the nation’s economic output.

Joomart Otorbayev resigned as Kyrgyzstan’s prime minister in April after failing to clinch the restructuring deal, and his successor, Temir Sariyev, said at the time that resolving the issue would be one of his priorities.

The Bishkek government is particularly unhappy with Centerra’s new, lower estimate of Kumtor’s reserves.

In breaking off negotiations, the government complained that the company had “presented a series of conditions for the registration and governance of the joint venture that were absolutely unacceptable.”

Prospects of reaching a deal have been complicated by the freezing of Kyrgyzstan’s shares in Centerra by Canadian courts following global arbitration rulings in favour of foreign investors. The decision, the latest twist in a drawn-out tussle over the mine’s fate, sent shares in Centerra sliding almost 6% in afternoon trading in Toronto.

Uzbekistan announces tender for construction of Turakurgan thermal power station

On 29 December 2015, Uzbekenergo announced a tender for the construction of the Turakurgan thermal power station in the Namangan region.

According to the company, the tender is announced for the construction of two units of 450 MW combined cycle power facilities at the Turakurgan power station. Tender proposals will be accepted until 30 March 2016.

The project is set to cost $1.1 billion and will be financed through a $704-million loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a $300-million loan from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan, as well as through Uzbekenergo’s own resources.

The first phase of the construction project of the Turakurgan thermal power station will be commissioned in 2017, during which the plan is to commission two modern combined cycle power facilities with a capacity of 450 MW each. In the second stage, in 2020, the plan is to launch two more such facilities.