Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Government spending grows in Kazakhstan

MARCH 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament approved increased government spending to compensate people for the 20% drop in the value of the tenge and counter rising inflation.

Overall, Kazakh government expenditure will increase by 6% to $39.1b.

The increase is more evidence of the inflationary effect of the currency devaluation on Feb. 19. Shops have increased their prices and large corporations have boosted salaries.

To calm public frustration, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev promised to increase pensions, public sector salaries and student grants. Parliament’s decision to increase government spending is simply making good on these promises.

The Kazakh government will fund the budget increase by transferring cash from the National Fund, where it keeps profits from oil revenues.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Russian rocket crashes in Kazakhstan

MARCH 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Russian weather rocket crashed near a village in western Kazakhstan, media reported. There were no casualties. The Kazakh authorities banned further Russian rocket launches over its territory.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Flood kills five in Kazakhstan

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A dam in central Kazakhstan burst, flooding downstream villages and killing five people. The accident underlines the need to improve Kazakhstan’s Soviet built infrastructure.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Kazakhstan increases pipeline exports

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) that runs from Atyrau in western Kazakhstan, north of the Caspian Sea into Russia and on to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk expanded by 24% in March from a year earlier after a successful capacity upgrade.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Kazakhstan expects tests for Kashagan

MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The results of tests into gas pipeline leaks at the Kashagan oil project in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea are expected in April, Reuters quoted a Kashagan spokesman as saying. Kashagan shut down in October, shortly after it opened, frustrating the government.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank posts profits

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second largest lender, said net profit rose by 3.5% to $398m in 2013, good news for the Kazakh finance sector. Importantly, also, Halyk Bank said the ratio of so-called non-performing loans had reduced slightly.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Kazakhstan devises new anti-money laundering rules

MARCH 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will launch new rules by end-2015 aimed at stemming the flow of cash from businesses to offshore accounts, media quoted the head of analysis at the Kazakh financial police, Olzhas Bektenov, as saying. Kazakhstan has been under pressure to tighten its anti-money laundering regulations.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Court in Kazakhstan jails Islamic radicals

MARCH 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Pavlodar, north Kazakhstan, jailed four Kazakhs who had trained with Islamic radicals in Syria, media reported. The Kazakhs were arrested in Turkey after crossing from Syria. Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus are increasingly concerned about people becoming radicalised in Syria.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Prince Harry skis at resort in Kazakhstan

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Prince Harry, third in line to the English throne, spent a long weekend in mid-March skiing at the Kazakh ski resort of Shymbulak, the Sun newspaper reported.

Grainy photos later appeared of Prince Harry posing for photos at the bottom of the slope. He apparently flew to the top of the piste in a hired helicopter.

By design or by accident, Prince Harry’s trip to Shymbulak is the best PR that the resort could have hoped for. Only last month, Kazakhstan unveiled its bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2022. Shymbulak was the centrepiece of this bid.

Shymbulak is still a curious choice for Prince Harry and his girlfriend Cressida Bonas to choose for a weekend break. It’s a long way from Europe, the jet-leg is heavy and, despite Kazakh PR proclaiming the opposite, the runs are limited compared to the Alps.

Even Kazakhstan’s wealthy prefer skiing in St Moritz and Chamonix.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Kazakhstan’s president meets Obama

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev met US president Barack Obama on the sidelines of a nuclear security conference in the Hague, the Netherlands. Other than an anodyne joint declaration on nuclear security, neither side gave details on what was discussed. Kazakhstan has supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)