SEPT. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Russia-lead security organisation involving most Central Asia states and Armenia started a week of military manoeuvres. Russia’s most senior general, Nikolai Makarov, told the Vedemosti newspaper that stopping any potential Arab Spring-style uprising was one of the main aims of the manoeuvres by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
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(News report from Issue No. 57, published on Sept. 19 2011)
SEPT. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – According to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Kashagan oil project in the Caspian Sea is back on schedule. On a trip to West Kazakhstan, he said Kashagan will produce oil next year as planned, local media reported. Kashagan is crucial to Kazakh plans to join the world’s top five oil producers by 2018 but rumours have been circulated that it had been delayed.
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(News report from Issue No. 57, published on Sept. 19 2011)
SEPT. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Underlining Kazakhstan’s increasing prominence in global economic affairs, President Nursultan Nazarbayev flew to France for a meeting with French President Nikolas Sarkozy. No major deals were signed at the meeting but the leaders promised closer cooperation and flights between Paris and Astana.
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(News report from Issue No. 57, published on Sept. 19 2011)
SEPT. 8 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – US publisher Forbes said it would start producing a Kazakh edition of its magazine, a nod to the country’s growing reputation in international investment circles. This will be the third Forbes title in the former Soviet Union after Russia and Ukraine. Forbes did not say when the first issue would be published.
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(News report from Issue No. 56, published on Sept. 12 2011)
AUG. 31 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh police arrested 22 people in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea for plotting terrorist acts, officials said. The arrests marked an escalation in Kazakhstan’s clampdown on militant Islamists. The next day, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said extremists were a threat to the country.
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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)
SEPT. 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an interview with Russian state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Kyrgyz PM Almazbek Atambayev again said Kyrgyzstan was ready to join the Russia-Kazakhstan-Belarus customs union. Many observers say the union is a Russian attempt to increase its influence over its neighbours.
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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)
SEPT. 1 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps a sign Russian is losing its prominence in Kazakhstan, the country’s main state TV channel started broadcasting only in Kazakh language. Russian programmes had previously made up about 25% of Kazakhstan-1’s output. Khabar, another state-owned TV, will still broadcast in Russian.
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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)
SEPT. 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea could start production in 2012, Eni chairman, Guisepp Recchi, was quoted by Dow Jones news agency as saying. Eni is part of the consortium developing Kashagan. Earlier reports had said production at Kashagan, key to Kazakh plans to become a global energy power, would be delayed until 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 55, published on Sept. 6 2011)
AUG. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s ruling party, Nur-Otan, won all 16 seats available in a senate election, underlining its grip on politics. Nur-Otan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s party, controls all 47 seats in the Senate and all 77 seats in the Majilis, Parliament’s lower chamber.
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(News report from Issue No. 54, published on Aug. 30 2011)
AUG. 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Kazakhstan blocked access to 13 websites, including the popular Russian language LiveJournal, because it said militant Islamists were using them to publish propaganda. Kazakhstan occasionally blocks websites used by militants and opposition leaders. Rights groups say Kazakhstan’s attitude towards the internet is authoritarian.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 54, published on Aug. 30 2011)
