Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan to persuade Syrian rebels at peace talks

APRIL 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said that it is working with Iran, Russia and Turkey to persuade Syrian rebels to attend peace talks scheduled for next month in Astana. Talks last month were stunted because the rebel faction pulled out at the last minute. The fourth round of Syria peace talks in Astana comes as tension between the opposing sides hits new highs. Rebels have accused the Syrian government of dropping chemical bombs on a town, killing dozens of civilians. The Syrian government and its Russian allies deny the charges.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)f

Capital Bank in Kazakhstan appoints new chairman

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APRIL 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan-based Capital bank promoted Bakhtiyar Ilyasov to be chairman, replacing Ghani Uzbekov. He had previously been the bank’s deputy chairman. In a note, the bank said that Mr Ilyasov would oversee the merger with Tengri bank, announced in March.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Currencies: Kazakh Tenge

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh Tenge continues its upword trajectory this year and is now threatening to break through the psychologically important 310/$1 barrier.

It last breached this level at the beginning of December 2015, during the second devaluation of the year. After 310/$1 barrier is broken, analysts are confident that with oil pushing past $55/Barrel and the macro-economic picture improving, that it is only a matter of time before the next important level of 300 tenge/$1 is also breached.

It barely registered in October 2015 when the tenge fell past this level. Overnight on Oct. 10/11 2015, the tenge fell from 280/$1 to 307.5/$1. It kept falling in value as oil prices fell and by Jan. 22 2016 was valued at 381/$1. Since then, oil has improved from under $30/barrel, helping the economy to heal and pushing the value of the tenge up by 18.3% to 311.9/$1.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh court jails labour union leader

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APRIL 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Astana found union leader Nurbek Kushakbayev, guilty of organising an illegal strike in January and sentenced him to 2-1⁄2 years in prison. His supporters say the sentence is harsh and that the court was being politicised. Kushakbayev had been deputy chairman of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions which was closed on the orders of a court in Shymkent. The government has been trying to curtail the power of the trade unions.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh nuclear company signs deal with Areva

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APRIL 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s state-owned nuclear company Kazatomprom signed a deal with France’s Areva to strengthen their partnership, an agreement which they said would see them working together for another 20 years. The two companies have worked together since 1996 on their Katco JV.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakhstan calls for chemical attack investigation

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan, currently a non- permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the host of talks on the Syrian civil war attended by Russia, Iran, Turkey and various Syrian factions called for an independent investigation into allegations that Syrian forces dropped chemical bombs onto a town in the south of the country at the start of the month. Syria, backed by its ally Russia, has denied the accusations.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh eyes a change of alphabet

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> I heat that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants to switch the alphabet that the Kazakh language uses to Latin from Cyrillic. Why is that? Is this part of his drive towards the West?

>> What drive towards the West? You can hardly accuse Nazarbayev of trying to cosy up to the West at the detriment of relations with Russia and China. Some media have indeed reported that this push to switch Kazakh to Latin alphabet by 2025 is part of a plot by Nazarbayev to become more Western. I don’t think that this is case, though.

>> So why make this big change?

>> It is a big change, that’s for sure, but it’s been talked about for years. Turkic languages also flow more naturally using the Latin alphabet. Cyrillic was forced on Kazakhstan by the Soviets. Kazakh was originally mainly an oral language spoken by the nomadic tribes of the steppe but as the people became more settled it adopted organised alphabets and scripts. This was, first, Arabic script when Islam was introduced into Central Asia during the time the region was the centre of the Silk Road. By the 19th century, the written form of Kazakh had grown in popularity, thanks mainly to the national poet Abai Qunanbaiuli, considered the father of the modern Kazakh language. He wrote in Arabic script. It was under the Soviet Union, though, with its sweeping collectivisation, that Kazakh was forced to adopt the Cyrillic alphabet.

>> Okay but if Nazarbayev isn’t trying to court the West with this move, why has he made it?

>> Latin has already been adopted by most other Turkic languages, including Turkish, Turkmen and Uzbek. Kyrgyz still uses Cyrillic. The switch to a Latin script makes sense for the Kazakh language in terms of ease of use and also matching up with the other main Turkic languages. It is not a geopolitical plot to move closer to the West.

>> What do ordinary Kazakhs think about the proposed switch to the Latin Alphabet?

>> Generally, they are positive about it. Kazakh has become more prevalent over the past 15 years or so. At the turn of the millennium, Russian was dominant in Almaty, now Kazakh is. By aligning Kazakh with other Turkic languages, Nazarbayev will be playing to this domestic audience.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakhstan says interest is high for privatisations

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ALMATY, APRIL 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A senior official at Samruk Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, said that the up-and-coming privatisations of Air Astana, the national airline, and Kazatomprom, the state nuclear company, were attracting a lot of attention from Western investors.

In an interview with Reuters in London, Berik Beisengaliyev, managing director for assets optimisation of Samruk Kazyna, also said that the Kazakh government had sold off 120 small and medium sized companies. Samruk Kazyna is Kazakhstan’s $67b sovereign wealth fund.

“We saw a very positive mood in the market,” he was quoted as saying. Kazakhstan has been promising the so-called People’s IPO that would see chunks of the country’s biggest companies listed on both the Kazakh Stock Exchange and an international exchange. It has continually delayed the IPOs, mainly because market conditions have moved against sales.

Still, Mr Beisengaliyev said that the sale of the smaller companies would be complete by the end of 2018 allowing the government to sell off what have been considered its top tier assets.

As well as Air Astana, which is 49% owned by BAE Systems, and Kazatomprom, the world’s biggest uranium producer, the more high profile companies slated to be sold off, or at least be partially privatised, include Kazpost, oil and gas company Kazmunaigas and railway operator Temir Zholy.

A third tier of companies are being considered for sale to strategic investors, single high-profile companies instead of the multiple smaller investors attracted through an IPO, Mr Beisengaliyev said. These companies include domestic airline Qazqom, Kazakhtelecom and mining company Teu-Ken Sumruk.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

MPs receive pay rise, angering ordinary Kazakhs

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APRIL 11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — MPs in Kazakhstan have received a pay rise of 50%, media reported. According to the Eurasianet website, the pay rise has angered many ordinary Kazakhs who are struggling through a sharp economic downturn. MPs have responded that the pay rise was organised four year ago and that they were the last group of government officials to receive a pay rise. The pay rise, active since March 1, means that MPs in Kazakhstan now earn $2,000 to $2,200 every month.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh car-maker to produce Chevrolet Niva

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APRIL 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — SaryArkaAvtoProm, a Kazakh car- maker based in Kostani in the north of the country, started production of the Chevrolet Niva car, the GM-AvtoVAZ company said in a press release. The announcement is a major boost for Kazakhstan’s fledgling car-making industry. It has been hard hit by a sharp economic downturn that has knocked consumer confidence. The SaryArkaAvtoProm is one of three car-making factories in Kazakhstan. GM-AvtoVAZ is a joint-venture set up by the US’ GM and Russia’s AvtoVAZ. It will sell the Chevrolet Niva produced by SaryArkaAvtoProm in southern Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)