Tag Archives: appointments

Kazakhstan appoints new Central Bank chief

OCT. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — If the outgoing Kazakh Central Bank chief Grigory Marchenko was an independent-minded career finance-man, Kairat Kelimbetov, the new one, could not be more different.

Mr Kelimbetov, 44, has instead picked a career path through the ranks of Kazakh officialdom based on efficiency and party loyalty. Now he has been thrust into the spotlight as the surprise choice of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to replace Mr Marchenko.

Some say Mr Nazarbayev sacked Mr Marchenko, others that he resigned for family reasons. Whatever the reason, Mr Kelimbetov takes over a demanding brief. Mr Nazarbayev has said that he wants to unite Kazakhstan’s pension funds. There is also intensifying downward pressure on the tenge.

Mr Kelimbetov is the son of a well-known Kazakh academic. His peers are the group of Kazakhs in their mid-40s who are now assuming some of the top jobs. These include Timur Kulibayev, the president’s son-in-law.

He started his career at various government planning departments before becoming the minister of economy in 2002. That posting launched his career which began to carry the hallmarks of a favourite of Mr Nazarbayev.

Mr Kelimbetov was made a deputy head of Mr Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan political party in 2007 and for a few months in 2008 he was head of the presidential administration, a powerful position. In 2008, he took over as chairman of Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna until 2012 when he became a deputy prime minister.

At each stage of his career, Mr Kelimbetov has parachuted into a role picked for him by Mr Nazarbayev. Heading the Central Bank is another important notch in his distinctive career resume.

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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

Kazakhstan changes Central Bank chief

OCT. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked the country’s long-serving Central Bank chief Grigory Marchenko in a surprise move that may sow doubt over Kazakhstan’s economic direction.

Former economy minister Kairat Kelimbetov will take over from Mr Marchenko.

Mr Nazarbayev didn’t give a clear reason for sacking Mr Marchenko, considered a favourite of investors. Mr Marchenko, 53, was brought in to head Kazakhstan’s Central Bank for a second time in 2009 to help weather the financial crisis. Under his leadership Kazakhstan nationalised a handful of banks that were teetering on the brink of collapse and devalued the tenge national currency.

Mr Marchenko won international plaudits and in 2011 was touted as a possible replacement for Dominique Strass- Kahn, the disgraced French politician, as head of the IMF.

More recently, Kazakhstan’s Central Bank has been grappling with downward pressure on the tenge and the reorganisation of the country’s pension funds.

Mr Nazarbayev may have just decided that it was time for a change and to replace the notoriously independent-minded Mr Marchenko with the more pliant Mr Kelimbetov.

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(News report from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)

Kazakhstan sacks Central Bank chief

OCT. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked his Central Bank chief, Grigory Marchenko. Mr Marchenko had been head of Kazakhstan’s central bank since 2009. Mr Nazrarbayev didn’t give a clear reason for sacking Mr Marchenko. Former economy minister Kairat Kelimbetov was named as the new Central Bank chief.

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(News report from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)

Lithuanian ambassador to be sacked after gaffe in Azerbaijan

AUG. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A diplomatic scandal centred on the status of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to lead to the sacking of Lithuania’s envoy in Baku.

Lithuania’s media is reporting that Dalia Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian President, is likely to fire her envoys to Hungary and Azerbaijan after they were recorded describing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Armenia.

The diplomatic spat not only embarrasses Lithuania but also acts as a wider reminder of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ultra-sensitive status. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still at war over Nagorno-Karabakh and only a 1994 UN negotiated ceasefire holds a shaky peace.

There are still almost weekly shoot-outs between the opposing armies and Azerbaijan has pledged to re-take the enclave from Armenia-backed forces.

Ms Grybauskaite has, apparently, acted after a recording of a private conversation between Arturas Zurauskas, Lithuania’ ambassador in Baku, and Renatas Juska, Lithuania’s ambassador in Budapest, surfaced on YouTube in July.

In the recording the men agree that Nagorno-Karabakh should be considered Armenian. They also refer to the enclave by its Armenian name, Artsakh. Azerbaijan stakes its own historical claim to the province.

The incident also serves as a reminder of the increased diplomatic clout that Azerbaijan’s burgeoning energy wealth has now given it.

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(News report from Issue No. 150, published on Sept. 2 2013)

Kazakh energy minister sacked

JULY 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked his energy minister, reportedly because of continued delays to the Kashagan oil project, Kazakhstan’s flagship energy development. Sauat Mynbayev had been energy minister since 2007. He moves to head Kazmunaigas, the Kazakh state energy company. Uzakbai Karabalin, a technocrat, becomes the new energy minister.

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(News report from Issue No. 142, published on July 8 2013)

Kazakh bureaucrats sacked after failing test

MAY 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Perhaps echoing its Soviet past, Kazakhstan will fire a third of its high-level government officials after they failed a new test, media reported quoting the chairman of the state service agency, Alikhan Baimenov. The test for officials was introduced last year to professionalise Kazakhstan’s bureaucracy.

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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)

Turkmen President sacks head of national equine association

FEB. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked the head of the national equine association live on television for not sufficiently promoting the horse industry, media reported. Mr Berdymukhamedov has set much weight in promoting various aspects of the Turkmenistan’s culture since becoming president in 2007.

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(News report from Issue No. 125, published on Feb. 22 2013)

Turkmen Pres. sacks equine association head

FEB. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked the head of the national equine association live on television for not sufficiently promoting the horse industry, media reported. Mr Berdymukhamedov has set much weight in promoting various aspects of the Turkmenistan’s culture since becoming president in 2007.

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(News report from Issue No. 125, published on Feb. 22 2013)

 

Turkmen Pres. sacks gas chief

JAN. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s autocratic president, sacked the head of the state’s natural gas company in a government reshuffle, media reported. Gas is Turkmenistan’s biggest income earner. Sahatmyrad Mammedov had headed Turkmengaz for less than a year.

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(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)

 

Turkmen President sacks gas chief

JAN. 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s autocratic president, sacked the head of the state’s natural gas company in a government reshuffle, media reported. Gas is Turkmenistan’s biggest income earner. Sahatmyrad Mammedov had headed Turkmengaz for less than a year.

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 120, published on Jan. 18 2013)