Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Subsidiary of British caterer bribes Kazakh officials

NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A subsidiary of a British catering company paid bribes to Kazakh officials to win contracts, a former employee said, the latest corruption scandal to hit Kazakhstan.

According to Karim Pabani, a former finance director of a Kazakh subsidiary of Compass Group which is one of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company paid for a $19,000 holiday to Dubai for a Kazakh government official and the university fees of the son of another official.

The accusations, which have been denied by Compass Group, will embarrass Kazakhstan which can’t shake off its reputation for corruption. Last month a court in France said it was investigating alleged kickbacks paid by a French company to win Kazakh helicopter contracts.

Mr Pabani’s allegations of corruption with Compass’s local subsidiary Kazmunaigaz Services Compass came during an employment tribunal. He is alleging unfair dismissal.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Kazakh copper miner company changes name

OCT. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhmys, the London-listed Kazakh copper miner that anti-corruption campaigners say has strong links to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC. KAZ Minerals retains the newer copper mines while the older mines in central Kazakhstan will operate under a new company called Cuprum Holding.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Kazakhstan’s national grid plans IPO

NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s national grid company, KEGOC, will sell 10% of its shares on the local stock market this year for an estimated $72m. KEGOC will become the second company after oil pipeline monopoly KazTransOil to launch a so-called People’s IPO, a high-profile part-privatisation of some state companies.

Kazakhstan to export power to Kyrgystan

NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has agreed to export electricity to Kyrgyzstan to help ease its impending power problems. The deal is likely to be finalised later this week when the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan meet. Kyrgyzstan has said low reservoir levels means an electricity shortage this winter.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Kazakhstan faces fuel supply problems

OCT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani media has refuted a suggestion by Kazakh deputy energy minister Uzakbay Karabalin that it will be able to supply Kazakhstan with enough fuel to make up for its on-going shortfall. Kazakhstan is looking for options to make up for the shortfall, which is frustrating ordinary people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Hollande to visit Kazakhstan

OCT. 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – France’s President Francois Hollande will travel to Astana on Dec. 5 for a two day visit, the French embassy in Kazakhstan said. France and Kazakhstan have developed close economic ties. Mr Hollande’s predecessor Nikolas Sarkozy visited Astana a handful of times.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

France to extradite Kazakhstan’s BTA bank ex-xhairman

OCT. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in France agreed to extradite the ex-chairman of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov to either Russia or Ukraine to face charges he stole billions of dollars.

Prosecutors in Russia have accused Ablyazov of a $5b fraud and Ukraine wants to try him for stealing $400m.

Human rights advocates had argued that Ablyazov wouldn’t face a fair trial if he was extradited and that he may also be sent on to Kazakhstan where he is wanted on various charges including trying to incite a revolution.

The court in Lyon effectively overturned a previous decision by the Supreme Court in Paris that rejected Ablyazov’s extradition. It did, though, specify that neither Ukraine nor Russia were allowed to send him on to Kazakhstan.

Even so, for Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Ablyazov’s extradition to either Ukraine or Russia is a major success and partially underlines his personal clout.

Relations between Kazakhstan and France have developed markedly over the past few years. Some have said that under former French President Nikolas Sarkozy the relationship became too cosy and a court in France is currently investigating allegations of bribes paid by French executives to secure a major helicopter deal.

Ablyazov had been a minister under Nazarbayev but increasingly positioned himself as an opposition leader. He fled to London in 2009 and fought the Kazakh government in a major legal case over funds. He was found guilty of contempt of court in London but absconded to the French Riviera where he was captured in 2013.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Kazakh police arrested Border Guards chief

OCT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police arrested the head of the Kazakh Border Guards Services, a powerful military unit, General Nurlan Dzhulamamnov for abuse of power. It’s unclear exactly what the charges are although the arrest will come as a blow to the Border Guards Service already suffering from an image problem linked to bullying and corruption.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Kazakhstan likely to issue Islamic debt

OCT. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will probably issue another sovereign or quasi- sovereign bond next year following its $2.5b Eurobond issue in October, the head of the Kazakh Central Bank Kairat Kelimbetov told Reuters in an interview. Mr Kelimbetov said another debt issue would likely be made as a sukuk, a bond linked to Islamic banking principles.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)

Kazakhstan aims to increase oil production

OCT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – By 2020 Kazakhstan aims to be producing 100m tonnes of oil a year, up from 82m tonnes currently, media quoted a senior official as saying. The jump in production is mainly attributed to Kashagan, the giant Caspian Sea oil field, finally starting production. It has been delayed by several years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)