Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakh president enjoys his G20 visit to China

ASTANA, SEPT. 4/5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — China handed Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev an A-grade PR opportunity when he attended the G20 summit, as a guest, in Hangzhou.

Not only was his press team able to release a series of photos of Mr Nazarbayev meeting other global leaders such as US President Barack Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but China positioned him at the centre of the standard G20 team photo, directly behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The positioning of leaders at the team photo is important and underscores the regard that the hosts hold each leader in.

It is usual for the G20 host to invite allies to the meeting of the world’s top global leaders as guests but unusual to position them so prominently in the team photo.

And for Mr Nazarbayev, this sort of opportunity is PR gold dust. He clearly enjoyed the occasion too with his official photographer releasing photos of him laughing with Mr Obama and other leaders.

Other invited guests were the leaders of Egypt, Singapore, Thailand, Spain, Chad (representing the African Union), Senegal (representing the New Partnership for African Development) and Laos (representing South-East Asia countries).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Succession speculation stirs in Kazakhstan after reshuffle

ASTANA, SEPT. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev shifted Karim Massimov, one of his closest allies, from PM to head the country’s security services, an unexpected reshuffle that may prepare the way for a more significant promotion linked to his succession plans.

Bakhytzhan Sagintayev, previously a deputy PM, was appointed interim PM but he is likely to make way when Mr Nazarbayev proposes a new PM to parliament, which MPs will then rubber-stamp.

Dariga Nazarbayeva, Mr Nazarbayev’s daughter, who was named deputy PM one year ago is touted as a potential new PM and possible next president. Analysts have discussed other high-profile Kazakh officials but she is considered a front runner. Mr Nazarbayev is 76-years-old and his apparent lack of a succession plan was highlighted by the unexpected death this month of Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s president.

Mr Massimov had served for the second time as Kazakh PM since April 2014. His move to the head the security services will help Mr Nazarbayev maintain his authority over the apparatus, considered essential for maintaining control over the country. Vladimir Zhumakanov, who had been head of the Security Service since December 2015, was appointed advisor to the president.

Mr Sagintayev, the interim PM, is a career bureaucrat who had been head of the Zhambyl region before becoming, briefly, in 2012 and 2013 Kazakhstan’s economy minister and then a deputy PM.

He is clearly trusted and was appointed head of the Kazakh atomic agency in 2015 after the death of one of Mr Nazarbayev’s favourites, Nurlan Kapparov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Kazakh court starts Tuleshov’s trial

SEPT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The military court in Astana started the trial of Kazakh businessmanTokhtar Tuleshov, arrested in January on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Tuleshov, who owns a beer factory in the southern city of Shymkent, was said to be behind the protests against the land reform in Kazakhstan, which mushroomed in several Kazakh cities in the spring.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Samsung cancels Kazakh power plant deal

ALMATY, SEPT. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korea’s Samsung pulled out of a $2.5b deal with Kazakhstan to build a coal-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the south of the country because of the low oil prices.

A collapse in oil prices since 2014 has hit Kazakhstan’s finances hard, forcing the government to cancel projects. Although there has been no response from the Kazakh government, the inference from Samsung’s statement is that it was worried that Kazakhstan would not be able to buy as much electricity as they had agreed.

“Samsung C&T exercised the put option regarding all of its Balkhash thermal power plant shares, 50% plus one share,” the company said in a statement. “[This] is a demand for Samruk Energy to acquire all the shares within 60 days from the date of notice for $192.5m.”

Samsung stopped construction work on the power plant 12 months ago after a disagreement with the Kazakh government over the agreed price it would pay for buying electricity from the plant, the first indicator that the deal may be running into serious trouble.

For Kazakhstan, Samsung’s decision to cancel the contract is a blow for two reasons — it is damaging for Kazakhstan’s reputation as a place to do business and also places further pressure on its current Soviet-era energy production system. Demand for electricity has been booming because of rising population and living standards. The Balkhash power plant had been considered essential for maintaining Kazakhstan’s power production.

In January, another South Korean company, LG Chem, dropped its plans to build a $4.2b petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan due to sustained low oil prices.

ENDS