Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakh President supports ENI

JUNE 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan and Italy demonstrated their strong links by agreeing a series of deals at a meeting between Italian PM Matteo Renzi and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Borovoye resort outside Astana.

Despite criticism of its handling of the Kashagan oil field development in the Caspian Sea, Italian energy company ENI was the main beneficiary of the deals.

Kashagan was supposed to be pumping out oil and projecting Kazakhstan into the top ranks of global oil producers. Instead, it lies idle while repairs are made.

Alongside Kazakh energy company KazMunaiGaz, ENI will explore a new site in the Caspian Sea. It will also team up with Italian engineer Finmeccanica to build a new shipyard at Kuryk on the Caspian Sea coast. Italian truck maker Iveco also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kazakh ministry of transport.

Domenico Sermesi, a partner at Almaty-based Adala Consulting, said the deals were good news.

“After the hiccups of last summer, this agreement, together with the document on the military corridor, is a sign of a renewed partnership,” he said.

Reference to a military corridor is to NATO forces withdrawing from Afghanistan through Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan and Italy certainly have a close relationship and Mr Nazarbayev emphasised this when he said that he was “confident that ENI’s activities in Kazakhstan will continue to be successful”.

Of course there will be strings attached to this backing. Kazakhstan will expect support for its application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and also to win a seat at the UN Security Council in 2017/18.

Regardless, the Italian stock market liked Mr Renzi’s visit to Kazakhstan. ENI’s shares rose 1.66% afterwards in an otherwise flat market.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

Potato prices rise in Kazakhstan

JUNE 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The price of potatoes in Kazakhstan has roughly doubled because of a shortage, media reported.This is important because food price spikes can generate discontent. Earlier this month, bread price increased in south Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

Kazakhstan approved Russian oil transit to China

JUNE 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament ratified a deal that will increase the amount of Russian oil pumped through Kazakh pipelines to China to 10m tonnes per year from 7m tonnes per year. The deal highlights Kazakhstan’s role as a oil transporter, and not just a producer, to China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

Kazakhstan drops visa requirements

JUNE 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a year-long pilot project starting on July 15, Kazakhstan will drop visa requirements for citizens staying for up to 15 days from 10 countries, media reported. These countries are the United States, the Netherlands, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and Japan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

Kazakhstan drops tax on FDI

JUNE 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will waive corporation and land tax for 10 years for foreign investors outside its energy industry, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.The initiative is part of a drive to try and attract investors back to Kazakhstan. Rampant corruption and a flatlining economy have deterred some investors.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

S&P cuts Kazakhstan outlook

JUNE 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s reduced Kazakhstan’s outlook to negative from stable, hitting the country’s reputation as a target for foreign investment.

Slower economic growth estimates and the limited impact of monetary policy have dented Kazakhstan’s reputation and Standard & Poor’s said it could cut its BBB+ rating within the next two years. BBB+ is Standard & Poor’s third lowest investment grade rating.

Kazakhstan cut the value of its tenge currency in February by 20% and Standard & Poor’s said that if the Central Bank was forced to intervene again it would almost certainly cut the rating.

Since February sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine have hit the entire former Soviet region, cutting economic growth rates.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

Kazakhstan sets low tariffs for clean energy

JUNE 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s government set a series of low price rates for energy generated from renewable resources, media reported, part of drive to increase the proportion of green power it uses. Kazakhstan has said it wants renewable energy usage to make up 40% of its power consumption by 2050.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

South Korean leader visits Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

JUNE 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – South Korean president Park Geun-hye started a six day trip to Central Asia by visiting Tashkent.

There Ms Guen-hye pledged to increase cooperation in gas and solar power sector.

This was just the first stage in an important Central Asia trip for the South Korean leader. Ms Guen-hye now travels to Astana and then to Ashgabat laying down a serious marker in the region.

Central Asia is a natural region for South Korea to look to carve out an overseas trade foothold. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ensured that this was the case.

In the 1930s, worried about their loyalty, Stalin moved hundreds of thousands of Koreans living in the east of the Soviet Union to Central Asia. Most settled around Tashkent or Almaty.

Now both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have large Korean minorities. Many ethnic Koreans are involved in business and some in politics. There are Korean restaurants in cities in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and transport links with Seoul are well-established.

Ms Geun-hye is looking to leverage these ties to ensure that South Korea is able to tap into the region’s energy reserves as well as putting Korean companies in a good position to do business.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 189, published on June 18 2014)

Bread prices spike in southern Kazakh city

JUNE 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bread prices in Shymkent increased by around a third overnight to 50 tenge ($0.25) a loaf from 35 tenge, media reported. This is the second bread price spike in south Kazakhstan this year and it could spark protests. Regional government officials blamed bakeries for the price increase.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 188, published on June 11 2014)

Korean president to visit Uzbekistan

JUNE 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – South Korean president Park Geun-hye will visit Uzbekistan next week as part of a tour of Central Asia that also includes Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, media reported quoting an Uzbek government source. There are large Koran ethnic minorities living in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 188, published on JUNE 11 2014)