MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Police in Kazakhstan detained Saken Baikenov, who campaigned against Russian Proton rocket launches from the Baikonur station, for hate crimes. Proton rockets, which are used for commercial missions, have exploded and polluted the countryside. Rights groups have questioned Kazakhstan’s commitment to free speech.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 4 2015 (The Bulletin) – The highest court in France rejected an appeal by lawyers of former Kazakh opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov against his extradition to either Ukraine or Russia . This decision paves the way for a governmental decree to extradite Ablyazov who is wanted by Kazakhstan on various charges.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 6 2015 (The Bulletin) – At a Senate hearing in Astana, chairman of the ministry of finance’s revenue committee, Daulet Yergozhin, said the country was going to impose new measures against off-shoring cash.
This is important — if new legislation actually appears — as the issue of Kazakhstan’s wealthy getting their cash out of the country while poorer sections of the population suffer during an economic downturn could turn political.
A study published last month by Alexander Cooley and Jason Sharman, two academics, analysed the channels through which the Kazakh elite amassed “spectacular fortunes” in Western financial centres.
Mr Yergozhin wasn’t responding to these accusations. Instead he said Kazakhstan was working with Switzerland and Liechtenstein to reduce the flow of capital out of the country.
“Already this year, we are planning to put barriers against the movement of capital [to offshore locations] and we will start seeing the results of this policy early next year,” media quoted him as saying.
Kazakhstan has been looking was to bring capital back into the country. Last year it introduced an amnesty for people which repatriated cash. It has said that this amnesty has so far attracted $1b back into Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
FEB. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – KAZ Minerals, the London-listed Kazakh copper miner, recorded a net loss of £2.4b last year, mainly due to a $2.1b write-off from discontinued operations. KAZ Minerals, formerly called Kazakhmys, has close links with the Kazakh elite.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -The International Cycling Union accused Team Astana of misleading it over anti-doping policies and called for its competition license to be withdrawn. Team Astana has near official backing in Kazakhstan and wears the national colours. A Team Astana rider won the 2014 Tour de France but other riders have failed drugs tests.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
MARCH 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s foreign minister Erlan Idrissov flew to Brussels for a meeting with the EU where both sides committed to deepening their partnerships. The EU’s backing is important for Kazakhstan because of the growing stigma in the West over former Soviet countries’ ties to Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -An autopsy found sedatives in the bloodstream of Rakhat Aliyev, former son-in-law of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was found hanged in his Vienna prison cell last month, Reuters reported quoting an Austrian prosecutor. Austrian officials said Aliyev killed himself. Austria has asked Switzerland for a second autopsy.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
NEW YORK, March 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – — Kanat Beisekeyev is a young photographer from Almaty. At 22, he has already been in search of the American Dream for a couple of years, joining the New York Film Academy and the International Photography Center (IPC).
It’s exciting, but tough.
“New York changed my life, it’s tough here, man!” said Beisekeyev with a twinkle.
As well as chasing the American Dream, Beisekeyev is also a statistic. He is one of thousands of young Kazakhs who migrate in search of better salaries, better work and more political freedom. Many live in London and New York, global metropolitan centres.
And this year, for the first time in a decade, the outflow of migrants from Kazakhstan surpassed the inflow. The socio-demographic imbalance shows a clear brain drain, as those who leave the country are the youngest and the brightest while the incomers are mainly poor ethnic Kazakhs who were brought up in China, Mongolia and other surrounding countries.
Now a teaching assistant, at the IPC, Beisekeyev is in his natural habitat. He talks while he gazes upon award-winning photographs hanging from the walls. Outside, New York City is cold. The thermometer indicates minus 15C, but wind gusts make it feel even colder than Almaty, where Beisekeyev was planning to live his life.
“At some point, I came to the conclusion that Kazakhstan didn’t offer enough challenges,” he said.
Beisekeyev said that life in the United States wasn’t always easy, though. He said that in Kazakhstan he could fill a gallery and people would pay to see his photographs while in New York all he can get are internships or temporary jobs.
“I hope all I’m giving here will come back to me one day,” Beisekeyev muttered.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
MARCH 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union has identified Central Asia and the South Caucasus as a future source of energy that will, importantly, reduce its reliance on Russia.
In an interview with the FT, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s vice-president for energy affairs, said that the region could become a major supplier of gas to the EU.
In particular, the EU is looking to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. It has diligently invested time and money building up relations and pipeline infrastructure over the past few years in the region.
Now, as relations with Russia sour over the Kremlin’s support for separatists in Ukraine, the EU is speeding up its search for alternative sources of energy.
And in Central Asia and the South Caucasus it will find a willing partner. The fallout over the drop in Russia’s economy and the collapse in energy prices have been severe and governments are looking for alternative markets. Europe may be bureaucratic but it is stable and reliable.
Turkmenistan’s government was quick to respond positively to the EU’s smoke signals.
It’s a different scenario in countries which don’t produce energy.
Armenia is reliant on Russia’s Gazprom for its energy. It has had to ask for a gas price discount, pulling it more and more under the influence of the Kremlin.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev called an early presidential election for April 26. Pro-Nazarbayev groups have been asking for an election in order to underline his authority as Kazakhstan deals with a tough economic climate.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
