Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Israeli PM visits Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan for first time

DEC. 13/14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) –Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Baku and Astana in a high- profile trip aimed at shoring up bilateral support in the South Caucasus and Central Asia region.

This was the first trip to the region by a serving Israeli PM.

Mr Netanyahu’s visit to Baku was particularly important. Azerbaijan borders Iran, Israel’s arch foe, and the two countries have built up an alliance. Azerbaijan buys Israeli weapons and has previously given its air force permission to use its airbases if conflict did break out with Iran. In return, Israel buys Azerbaijani oil.

In comments which gushed with positivity, Mr Netanyahu was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying: “The world sees so much intolerance and darkness, this (Azerbaijan-Israel cooperation) is an example of how the Muslim-Jewish relationship can and should be everywhere.”

Mr Aliyev was equally enthusiastic about bilateral relations, calling Israel an important partner and describing how his government had spent nearly $5b on buying Israeli-made weapons. The visit triggered a series of anti- Azerbaijan demonstrations in Iran. The Iranian government also officially complained and accused the Azerbaijani government of anti-Islamic tendencies.

From Baku, Mr Netanyahu flew to Astana for a meeting with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. He openly said that he wanted to enlist Kazakhstan’s help in supporting Israel for a non-permanent seat on the UN’s Security Council.

“We helped you get accepted as a member of the Security Council and now we are asking you to help us be a member of the council, as well,” he was quoted by media as saying to Mr Nazarbayev.

Kazakhstan starts a two-year position on the UN Security Council in January. It is one of 10 non-permanent members. The five permanent members are the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

Paris court frees Kazakh President’s enemy Ablyazov from jail

DEC. 9-13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Days after a court in Paris freed former Kazakh banker Mukhtar Ablyazov from jail, the self-styled opposition figure promised to reignite his campaign to topple Kazakhstan’s long-running leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The Paris court had overturned an order to extradite Mr Ablyazov to Russia because of concerns that he would be tortured and then handed over to Kazakhstan. Mr Nazarbayev has viewed Mr Ablyazov as his number one enemy and wanted to see him tried in a Kazakh court for plotting a coup.

Mr Ablyazov, though, walked out of prison in Paris, three years after his arrest in the south of France. In an interview with the AFP news agency, he was in combative mood.

“My main aim is to bring democratic change to Kazakhstan and that Nazarbayev’s regime falls,” he said.

For Mr Nazarbayev this means a resumption of the well-funded campaign to see Mr Ablyazov in prison. The thought of the former energy minister, turned-billionaire-banker living freely in Paris will anger and irritate him.

In a subsequent Liberation interview, Mr Ablyazov was photographed looking gaunt and thin. As well as promising to continue to fund opponents of Mr Nazarbayev, he also said that he had sponsored a revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005.

“It was important for me in order to launch a democratic process in one of the former Soviet republics and they to be able to carry out proper reforms, which would become a model for Kazakhstan,” he said.

Kyrgyzstan’s 2005 revolution overthrew Askar Akayev. He was replaced by Kurmanbek Bakiyev who was also overthrown in a revolution in 2010.

For Kazakhstan’s disparate opposition, Mr Ablyazov is a complicated and at times Faustian character. A member of the Kazakh elite, he fled to Moscow and London after the collapse of BTA Bank, where he was chairman. The Bank had billions of dollars of debt which were exposed during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008/9. The government bought the bank, along with other smaller banks, to protect savers.

In the meantime, Mr Ablyazov set himself up as an opposition leader in a leafy area of north London.

The Kazakh government accused Mr Ablyazov of stealing billions of dollars from BTA Bank and prosecuted him through the courts in London. During one of the court sessions he absconded and went on the run in the south of France.

Mr Ablyazov, though, was unrepentant.

“Vladimir Putin is rebuilding a Soviet Union and Kazakhstan is its main ally,” he said, explaining his motivations for trying to overthrow Mr Nazarbayev.

The Kazakh Prosecutor-General’s office has said it will continue to prosecute Mr Ablyazov for the alleged theft of $5b, abuse of office, plotting a coup and various other crimes.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

Kazakh President orders pension rise

DEC. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a populist show of tenderness towards ordinary Kazakhs, President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered the state pension to be increased by 20% next year. His apparent show of magnanimity coincided with the country’s 25th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union. Pensions are paid in tenge, which has lost half its value since 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

Kazakh President’s son-in-law family want re-trial

DEC. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The family of Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s former son-in-law who was found dead in an Austrian prison cell in February 2015, called for an investigation into his death to be reopened. At a press conference the family presented a German expert who said that he thought Aliyev had been murdered. An Austrian investigation ruled that Aliyev had killed himself. Aliyev had been married to Dariga Nazarbayeva, Pres. Nazarbayev’s eldest daughter. He had fallen out with his father-in-law in 2007.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

Israel to build poultry plant in Kazakhstan

DEC. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Israeli poultry processing company BAL International said it will build a new food chain plant in Kazakhstan. The company, which owns two factories in Israel, plans to install a new production line in the Almaty region. Its business will be mostly geared towards exports to China. The company also plans to kick-start a mutton export line from Kazakhstan to Israel. The deal was signed during Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s official visit to Astana.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)f

Kazakhstan-based CAM director’s shares increase

DEC. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Central Asia Metals said that its deputy chairman Nigel Hurst-Brown had been given 215,000 ordinary shares from an unnamed shareholder, increasing his shareholding to 0.81%. The transaction was completed at no cost. With a stake of 19%, Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev is Central Asia Metals’ largest shareholder.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

KAZ Minerals gets funding

DEC. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed copper miner KAZ Minerals said it had been given a $300m loan from state-owned Kazakhstan Development Bank to fund the development of the Aktogay mine in eastern Kazakhstan. The loan will have a maturity of 8-1/2 years. At a press conference, Oleg Novachuk, the company’s chairman, said that the total debt of the company totalled around $2.5b.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

Kazakh energy ministry forecasts Kashagan production

DEC. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A report from Kazakhstan’s energy ministry forecast total production at Kashagan to reach 308m tonnes in total by 2041, the KazTAG news agency reported. This is important because it shows the size of the oil field and just how much oil the consortium developing it can expect to produce during the lifespan of the production sharing agreement. ENI, Shell, Kazmunaigas, Inpex, Total, ExxonMobil and CNPC are the consortium members.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)

Tethys’ Kazakh subsidiary resumes sales

DEC. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Tethys Petroleum said its Kazakh subsidiary had restarted gas sales to the state- owned distributor Intergas Central Asia after a seven-week suspension. Intergas Central Asia cut the gas supply contract with Tethys Aral Gas in October. At the time, Tethys was locked in a row with Kazakh investors who had promised to deliver a cash injection.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)f

Stock market: OPEC

DEC. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The collapse in oil prices since 2014 has hit the economies of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Every now and then, though, a new touted solution emerges, be it maximising oil output to earn as much as possible or freezing output and waiting for sunnier days.

Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the main producers in our region, have played with the idea of “freezing” oil production, although this is more a reflection of a drop in production at aging oil fields rather than a conscious choice. An agreement reached between members of OPEC and other producers seems to have solved the headache in the medium-term. The parties pledged to cut output, forcing prices up.

This measure, however, lasted just a few days.

After the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in one year on Wednesday, the US dollar soared against all commodities, cancelling out the progress made after the OPEC-sponsored meeting.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 309, published on Dec. 16 2016)