Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakh police arrested EXPO 2017 chief

JUNE 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Kazakhstan arrested on corruption charges Talgat Yermegiyayev, two days after he had quit as the chairman of the company organising President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s EXPO-217 extravaganza.

The arrest will be a major embarrassment to Mr Nazarbayev who has pledged to crackdown on corruption in Kazakhstan.

Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, the mayor of Astana, was quickly given the job of heading EXPO- 2017.

For Mr Yermegiyayev, a powerful businessmen with links to the top of the Kazakh elite, his arrest marks a very heavy fall from grace.

Alongside him, police also arrested Kazhymurat Usenov on embezzlement charges. Mr Usenov was in charge of much of the construction work for EXPO-2017 in Astana.

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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

India will reject Kazakh Abai stake

JUNE 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – India will reject a 25% stake in the Abai oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, Indian sources told the Economic Times newspaper. Kazakhstan had offered India the stake in the untapped field after it chose China over India as a shareholder in the Kashagan oil field in 2013.

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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

UN criticises Kazakhstan on freedoms

JUNE 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Maina Kiai, a United Nations Special Rapporteur, said the freedom to assemble and freedom of expression were compromised in Kazakhstan. Mr Kiai was reporting on a trip he made to Kazakhstan in January.

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(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

EBRD boosts spending in Kazakhstan

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said lending to projects in Kazakhstan would hit a record $1b this year as the country diversifies away from oil, gas and other extractive minerals.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Lukoil knocks price in Kazakhstan

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s Lukoil will knock 10% off the price of assets in Kazakhstan it plans to sell to China’s Sinopec to ease the deal through, media reported quoting industry sources. The discount shows how oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan have lost value since oil prices fell sharply.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Kazakhstan’s oil field to start pumping

JUNE 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kashagan, Kazakhstan’s trouble- some Caspian Sea oil field, will start pumping oil by mid-2016 and hit an output of 370,000 barrels per day by the end of 2017, media reported quoting an interview with Stephane de Mahieu, managing- director of the consortium developing the field.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

New labour laws anger Kazakh workers’ unions

JUNE 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh government presented new rules for workers which reduces their rights and forces unions to re-register with a government institution, a move which could damage relations between labour groups and companies.

Tamara Duysenova, the minister for health and social development, presented the bill at the National Congress of Trade Unions in Astana.

“The new provisions are in line with the spirit of the Law On Trade Unions approved last year,” she said.

The Unions disagree. Lyudmila Ekzarkhova, an official at the Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said: “These measures would put independent unions under the thumb of a government- appointed body.”

Opposition groups have criticised the measures which free employers from paying overtime work and cut benefits for injured workers.

The new law will also force independent trade unions to re-register under the state- controlled Federation of Trade Unions. Strikes called by unregistered trade unions will be illegal.

Relations between big companies and workers in Kazakhstan are already delicate.

Ever since oil workers went on strike in the town of Zhanaozen in the west of the country in 2011, a strike which triggered a riot and then a street battle with police that killed at least 15 people, workers’ rights in Kazakhstan have been strained.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Kazakhstan competes talks with WTO

JUNE 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – After 20 years of negotiations, Kazakhstan has completed talks with the World Trade Organisation and should join the group by the end of the year. The WTO said that although there had been issues around Kazakhstan’s bilateral agreements and its membership of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union, a deal had been struck.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Kazakhstan wants to target inflation

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Oleg Smolyakov, deputy chairman of Kazakhstan’s Central Bank, said a change of monetary policy to target inflation instead of a stable exchange rate would not be possible within the next couple of years, the first sign of a row back on the high- profile strategy.

The potential row-back will disappoint businesses and international observers who have urged the Kazakh Central Bank to allow its tenge currency to float more freely.

“We believe that we cannot afford switching to inflation targeting within a time range of one to two years,” media quoted Mr Smolyakov as saying.

This is a departure from the bullish declaration by Central Bank chief Kairat Kelimbetov who said Kazakhstan would liberalise its currency market.

According to Mr Smolyakov, Kazakhstan needs more tools to switch from the current currency corridor to targeting inflation. A sharp fall in the value of the Russian rouble since last summer has pressured currencies and economies across the region.

Also, seemingly eager to smooth public concerns over a volatile currency, Mr Smolyakov said the Kazakh tenge would remain stable with oil prices over $50 per barrel.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Kazakhstan to produce defence kit

JUNE 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kazakh agricultural equipment manufacturer is in negotiations with a Turkish company to buy the licence to manufacture its armoured vehicles. Kazakhstan has previously said that it wants to improve and strengthen its defence sector manufacturing base.

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(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)