Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Reserves drop in Kazakhstan

NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said its international reserves fell by 2.9% in October to $30.5b, the first decline in four months. Since the beginning of the year, reserves have grown by 13.8%, the Central Bank said. Last year the Central Bank spent a large proportion of its reserves trying to prop up its currency. This year, though, under a new Central Bank chief, the strategy has changed and the Bank has stepped away from intervention.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakhstan’s flagship to put for auction

NOV. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna said it will put up for auction up to 25% of Air Astana, the country’s flagship carrier it co- owns with Britain’s BAE Systems. Samruk-Kazyna said that BAE Systems could also sell up to 25% of Air Astana, but that 51% of the shares should remain in the hands of Kazakh investors to comply with the law. Samruk-Kazyna owns 51% of Air Astana, BAE Systems owns the rest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Female judges to deal with rape in Kazakhstan

NOV. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor-General Zhakip Asanov said female attorneys should be in charge of all criminal trials involving sexual violence, such as rape and paedophilia. In a statement, Mr Asanov said women are better at understanding such cases. Rights groups have accused the Kazakh justice system of being soft on sexual violence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakh carmaker revives production

NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Despite a 29% fall in revenues, Kazakhstan-based carmaker AziaAvto turned a profit of 3b tenge ($8m) in the first nine months of 2016, compared to a loss of 13.4b tenge in the same period last year. In a statement, the company said that despite the slump in the market, AziaAvto has managed to contain costs and revive production. AziaAvto’s plant in eastern Kazakhstan produces cars for Lada, Skoda, Chevrolet and KIA.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Fire kills seven in Kazakh city

NOV. 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A fire in a residential building near the Almaty Towers complex killed seven people, mostly Kazakh university students. Investigators said that the likely causes of the fire were either a fault during ongoing construction works or an electrical short-circuit. One welder and six students died in the accident. The Almaty Towers complex is located near the circus in the western part of the city.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Georgia and regional governments welcome Trump election win

TBILISI, NOV. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Governments across Central Asia and the South Caucasus welcomed Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election on Nov. 4 and heralded it as an opportunity for the US to increase its engagement in the region.

Analysts have said that under President Barack Obama, the US’ interest in Central Asia and the South Caucasus has dropped. Both President Obama’s Secretary of States, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, visited the South Caucasus and Central Asia but since the US and NATO pulled most of its forces out of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014, its interest has waned.

The only US president to have visited the region was George W. Bush in May 2005. He visited Tbilisi when Mikheil Saakashvili was president. Georgia is the US’ biggest ally in the region, sending its army to fight in both Iraq and Afghanistan and Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili welcomed Mr Trump’s win.

“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Donald J. Trump on his victory in the presidential elections,” he said. “American people voted for change, oriented on making US even stronger.”

His sentiments were echoed by other regional leaders but reaction on the street was less clear cut. In Almaty Aidana Omarova, a university lecturer, said she was appalled that Mr Trump had won the election.

“I cannot even imagine how such a sexist, racist and rude person can lead the US,” she said.

In Tbilisi Nana, a lawyer, was worried. “He wants to improve relations with Russia, that’s not very good for Georgia, in case we need support from the US,” she said. “Secondly he was extremely negative about immigrants and I know there are lots of Georgians who work in America and send money to their families.”

But in Dushanbe, Jakhongir, 29, a website developer, had a different viewpoint. He said the US election had been a great democratic exercise.

“I wish we could have such interesting elections debates here in Tajikistan, too,” he said. “Let’s see how Trump will behave, I think he will be more restrained in his words and actions now.”

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Grounded flights in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

NOV. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air traffic in Central Asia and the South Caucasus continues to suffer from the regional economic slump, as major international carriers cut flights and leave the market to fickle domestic players.

Most notably this year, British Airways cut its London-Baku link, the last remaining destination for the British flag carrier in the region. The connection had lasted over 20 years, ever since BP started to negotiate the so-called Contract of the Century.

Demand for air transport, however, has shrunk, especially in the business market. Low

commodity prices have made many regional business unprofitable. This, added together with some damaging reputational issues, such as the delisting of Kazakhstan’s ENRC from the London Stock Exchange, have made many Western businesses wary of the region.

So it’s not surprising that Turkish Airlines dropped its connections with Osh and Khujand when it decided to downsize its global network because of a drop in demand. The second-largest cities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan just cannot make the cut for commercially viable air links.

Turkmenistan’s new flights to Georgia were also postponed indefinitely this week, a sign that even diplomatically-motivated aviation routes need to be profitable.

On the positive, the Russian and Tajik aviation committees agreed a deal to end their short-lived dispute over routes. This is important, vitally important, for Tajikistan’s migrant workforce who rely so heavily on Russia for their income.

Air routes have become part of a modern-day annual commute for people in developing countries, needed to carry them to waiting jobs.

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(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakh oil company completes maintenance

NOV. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil company PetroKazakhstan said it has completed planned maintenance and remodelling work at its Shymkent refinery three days ahead of schedule. Kazakhstan’s ministry of energy has repeatedly said that the country needs to upgrade its refineries and build a new one. London-traded KMG EP, a subsidiary of state-owned Kazmunaigas, owns a 33% stake in PetroKazakhstan, while China’s CNPC owns the rest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

Kazakhstan electricity distributor to sell its stakes

NOV. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — KEGOC, Kazakhstan’s electricity distributor, renewed its plans to sell off its stakes in Kazenergoprovod, a Semey-based company that sells AC cables. First in May, then in August, KEGOC had unsuccessfully tried to sell its 49.9% stake for 98.4m tenge ($290,000). Founded in 2012, Kazenergoprovod has posted losses for three consecutive years. Local East Industry Company owns 51.1% of Kazenergoprovod.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)

China’s CITIC Bank buys 60% stake in Kazakhstan’s Altyn Bank

ALMATY, NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank, one of Kazakhstan’s biggest lenders, said it will sell a 60% stake in its subsidiary, Altyn Bank, to China’s CITIC Bank at the start of next year, China’s most significant investment in the Kazakh banking sector.

The parties did not disclose the cost of the transaction, but experts believe it could be around $300m.

“The valuation of Altyn’s current assets as of September 30 is 316b tenge ($929m) and we can expect an increase in the bank’s activity in Q4. After premiums and non-performing loans discounts, the final figure could be around $300m,” Rasul Rysmambetov, director of the Public Fund Financial Freedom, told the Kursiv newspaper.

Altyn Bank is the successor of HSBC Kazakhstan that Halyk Bank bought in March 2014 for $176m.

China already owns Bank of China in Kazakhstan and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Almaty, two small-sized lenders founded in 1993. Owning Altyn Bank will boost its presence and could help the bank grow trade with China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 304, published on Nov. 11 2016)