APRIL 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A rise in snowmelt, triggered by an increase in temperatures, has caused rivers to burst their banks, media reported. The Karaganda oblast’s emergency department said nearly 2,000 homes had been flooded.
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(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)
APRIL 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has agreed to give Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the Kazakh national rail company, a loan of $200m to restructure its debt, media reported. Temir Zholy has been upgrading rapidly over the past few years.
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(News report from Issue No. 227, published on April 15 2015)
APRIL 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Timur Kulibayev, one of Kazakhstan’s richest men and son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, criticised the Central Bank’s handling of the growing economic fallout, a rare show of dissent by a senior member of the Kazakh elite.
At a business forum in Almaty, Mr Kulibayev said he was “not satisfied with the work of the Central Bank”, specifically with regards to the lack of liquidity.
“How can entrepreneurs get access to liquidity?” he said. “How can lending become more affordable? When we travel to the regions, these are the questions we are asked.”
The fallout from a slide in the value of the Russian rouble and a drop in the price of oil has hurt economies in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, piling pressure on its leaders and businesses. Mr Kulibayev owns Halyk Bank, one of Kazakhstan’s biggest banks.
Once feted as a leader–-in-waiting, Mr Kulibayev has become increasingly out-spoken and isolated.
The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs (NCE), a powerful organisation which he heads, has repeatedly criticised the Central Bank’s support for the national currency despite devaluation pressure.
Last month, Umut Shayakhmetova, the CEO of Halyk Bank also said in an interview that the Central Bank was hurting the economy by not allowing the currency to free-float.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – British and US soldiers have flown to Kazakhstan to take part in the Steppe Eagle annual military exercise. The exercise is routine but it is still a useful reminder that although Kazakhstan is close to Russia, it has also cultivated close ties with NATO forces.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A proposed $70b takeover of BG by Royal Dutch Shell will have implications for Kazakhstan’s energy sector. BG is a major shareholder in, and the operator of, the Karachaganak oil and gas project in north Kazakhstan. This will pass to Shell if the deal goes through.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund has spent $8b, or 10% of its total, over the past nine months supporting the tenge currency against devaluation pressure, media reported quoting official statistics. The size of the drop gives a good indication on the severity of the economic downturn.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Chinese company CITIC has agreed to build a vital fourth Kazakh oil refinery in Aktau, Forbes Kazakhstan reported. The deal was arranged during a trip last month to China by Kazakh PM Karim Massimov. The project should cost around $6b and will be completed within 5 years.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will give car-makers 35b tenge ($188m) to help them survive the economic downturn, media reported quoting First Vice Minister for the Economy, Marat Kussainov. Kazakhstan’s car-makers have been hit hard by the sharp drop in the rouble because Russia was one of its biggest markets.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
APRIL 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – People in Kazakhstan, it appears, are still rushing to buy cheap Russian goods.
Official data showed that in February Kazakhs across the country bought 3.5 times more roubles than they did a year earlier.
In some areas, the rise was even bigger. In Mangistau, western Kazakhstan, the increase between February 2014 and February 2015 was nearly 19 times, Almaty the increase was 18 times and in Kyzylorda region of southern Kazakhstan the increase was nearly 35 times.
Russian goods have become far cheaper over the last few months because of the near 50% devaluation of the Russian rouble. Most Central Asian states have also devalued their own currencies but Kazakhstan has said that it will resist a sudden cut.
It knocked 20% off the value of its tenge currency last year and sees defending it as the best way to retain credibility.
Still, analysts have said that it is only a matter of time before Kazakhstan relents and cuts the tenge by up to 40%.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
MARCH 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a briefing, Senator Yertargyn Astayev, a member of parliament’s budget committee, said ministries might not have enough cash to fulfil projects unveiled by Mr Nazarbayev’s Nurly Zhol party.
According to Mr Astayev, the interior ministry, which deals mainly with law enforcement and migration issues, will soak up the largest budget cut of $225m.
But, importantly, Mr Astayev also said finances earmarked for large infrastructure projects were going to be “placed under strict control”.
The hint was clear. The investments envisaged by Mr Nazarbayev are under threat.
Economic turmoil in the region has forced Kazakhstan into cutting the budget.
Mr Nazarbayev said that various departments had to save a combined $3.3b.
And the cutbacks have caught the public’s attention too.
Rauan, a 43-year-old engineer from Almaty said the government should ditch various high-profile but less useful projects such as EXPO-2017.
“Now we are funding these projects, designed only to feed our pride, at our own expense,” he said. “Perhaps our ambitions are too high.”
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
