DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s gold and foreign currency reserves have grown by 15.8% this year, media reported quoting the Central Bank’s press service. This war-chest is important because the Central Bank has said it is prepared to spend to defend the tenge currency against falling oil prices and a drop in the Russian rouble.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
DEC. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh PM Karim Massimov said Kazakhstan wanted to develop shale gas sites, industry website shaleenergyinsider.com reported. The website quoted Mr Massimov talking at an energy conference. If Mr Massimov acts on his statement it would mark a change in Kazakhstan’s energy policy.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second biggest lender, said profits for the first nine months of the year had risen by around two-thirds, mainly because of an increase in the number of loans it has given out. The results are good news for Kazakhstan’s economy which has been under pressure from falling oil prices.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
NOV. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A gas explosion in a block of flats in the city of Taldykorgan in south Kazakhstan killed at least seven people, media reported. Media quoted the emergency services as saying improper use of gas cylinders had caused the explosion. The accident highlights poor infrastructure used in Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Under a deal thrashed out last month, Kazakhstan started supplying Kyrgyzstan with electricity, media reported. Kyrgyzstan has been desperate to secure electricity because of a dry summer that has left reservoirs feeding hydropower sites low on water.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)
NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan is on the brink of accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the WTO’s director-general, Roberto Azevedo, said in a report. Kazakhstan has been negotiating to join the WTO since the late 1990s and joining the group would give its credibility a boost.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek President Islam Karimov made a rare trip to Astana where he met Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss plans by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build extra hydropower capacity, an issue that has threatened to destabilise the region. Uzbekistan relies on water from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to feed its important cotton fields.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan, which has virtually zero history of polar exploration, signed up to the Antarctic Treaty, an international agreement to defend the neutrality of the region.
Kazakhstan had shown some interest in the Antarctic region in the past, with private expeditions. In 2011 a Kazakh expedition drove to the South Pole where it planted the national flag on the 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union.
Since then the government has unveiled plans to establish a Kazakh Antarctic station for research and possibly business purposes.
It’s likely that Kazakhstan wants to increase its international profile by signing up to the Antarctic Treaty.
Luca Anceschi, professor of Central Asian Security at the University of Glasgow, said: “This decision is in line with the government’s policy to increase and improve Kazakhstan’s visibility in the international arena.”
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A new railway running from Kazakhstan, through Turkmenistan to Iran will open on Dec. 3, Iran’s minister for urban development, Abbas Akhoundi, said. The route is an important part of a new north-south Silk Road. Turkmenistan wants to encourage trade across its territories.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An outdated version of the Kazakh national anthem was played at a medals ceremony at the Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championships in South Korea, media reported. Kazakhstan is sensitive about national anthem mix-ups after errors that included a spoof anthem and the old Soviet anthem.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
