Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Nur Otan drops Dariga Nazarbayeva as MP

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – ALMATY — The results of the parliamentary elections may have been expected but there was a surprise lined up. A few days days after the vote the Nur Otan party dropped Dariga Nazarbayeva, eldest daughter of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, from its list of MPs (March 24).

The Conway Bulletin’s Central Asia newswire service (the Silk Road Intelligencer) broke the news on Thursday that Ms Nazarbayeva’s had been dropped by Nur Otan as an MP.

MP in 2012-14 and also held the post of deputy PM since last September, was in line to return to the lower house of Parliament and be nominated as speaker.

This would have granted her a powerful and respected position and also signalled that she was being lined up as a potential successor for her 75-year-old father as Kazakhstan’s second post-Soviet president.

There has been no explanation to the apparent change of plan but it set off various theories on the Kazakh presidential succession issue.

And last week, too, Ms Nazarbayeva’s son, 31-year-old Nurali Aliyev, quit as deputy mayor of Astana apparently to pursue business interests.

This effectively means that in one week, two key members of the president’s family have taken a step back from influential political positions.

One theory previously been put forward for Kazakhstan’s succession issue was that Ms Nazarbayeva would take over in the short term as president before making way for her son. That now appears off the agenda.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Kazakhstan’s KMG debt worsens

MARCH 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – International ratings agency Fitch said that Kazmunaigas’ adjusted debt ratio for 2015 might be worse than expected. A weak performance by KMG EP, Kazmunaigas’ upstream subsidiary, significantly lower dividends from its joint-ventures and a weaker tenge had combined to dent the company’s finances.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Kazakh Kashagan field to reach commercial production next year

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Halyk Bank effectively poured cold water over Kazakh officials’ forecasts that the giant Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea would meet commercial production of 75,000 barrels/day this year. Instead, Halyk Bank said that Kashagan would be operating effectively only by the end of 2017. Kashagan is vital for Kazakh oil output.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Editorial: Kazakh Pres. daughter’s moves

MARCH 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Observers expected one major outcome from Kazakhstan’s parliamentary election. Dariga Nazarbayeva’s nomination as an MP and her ascendency to be parliament’s Speaker, an important constitutional role and a stepping stone to higher office. But it didn’t come through.

Has she fallen out with her father, the 75-year-old Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev? Her son, Nurali Aliyev, resigned as deputy mayor of Astana earlier this month. Coincidences are rare in Kazakh politics.

Is she adopting a more low-key approach? This could be one way of dodging future tough austerity policies that the government will inevitably adopt to survive a worsening economic crisis.

Whatever the greater game plan is, one thing is for sure. Kazakhstan’s succession issue will once again dominate Kazakh politics.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Kazakh miner corporation appoints new head

MARCH 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bakhtiyar Krykpyshev replaced Eduard Ogai as chairman of Kazakh miner Kazakhmys Corporation. Kazakhmys Corporation is the privately-held offshoot of the now-defunct Kazakhmys and is controlled by Vladimir Kim. KAZ Minerals, the publicly-traded heir of Kazakhmys, is the other offshoot of the corporate reorganisation.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

UK introduces new visa process for Kazakh citizens

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The UK government introduced a new Super Priority visa service for citizens of Kazakhstan. The new service will cost an extra £750 ($1,060) in addition to the consular fees and will ensure delivery within 24 hours. The government also said the new process can be used to apply for long term, multi- entry visas. “Last year the UK issued over 15,000 UK visas for Kazakhstani citizens,” Carolyn Browne, British ambassador to Kazakhstan said in a statement. London is a favoured destination for Kazakhstan’s wealthy.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Sixth Energy buys stake in Kazakhstan-focused company

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Canadian oil company Sixth Energy Ltd bought a 26.5% stake in Calgary- based Caspian Energy for $320,000. Sixth Energy now owns 60.6% of Caspian Energy, a company active in north-western Kazakhstan. Caspian Energy holds an exclusive licence to explore the North Block, near the Alibekmola, Zhanazhol and Kenkiyak oil fields.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Canadian gold miner Alhambra takes Kazakhstan to court

ALMATY, MARCH 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Canadian gold miner Alhambra Resources said it was seeking damages against Kazakhstan’s government, via the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, for the bankruptcy of its Kazakh subsidiary.

This is the second major arbitration case against Kazakhstan in the past few months. In January, the Kazakh government had to pay $25m compensation to Estonian builder Windoor after a court in Stockholm ruled it had broken a contract in 2012 to build a conference centre for its foreign ministry.

A sharp economic downturn has hit Kazakhstan hard and forced the government to cut budgets and projects, undermining, to some extent, its credibility as a client.

The company accused the Kazakh government of acting in an “unfair and inequitable” way against both Alhambra and its subsidiary Saga Creek.

Alhambra said the Kazakh government had broken its terms of contract with Saga Creek, imposed excessive fines on it and withheld mining licences.

“This conduct by the Government has frustrated Alhambra’s investment activities in Kazakhstan, drained the Corporation’s resources and culminated in the bankruptcy of Saga Creek,” it said in a statement. Kazakhstan has not commented.

In 2011, a high court in the Akmola region of northwest Kazakhstan cancelled a $1.6m tax bill that local government had sent to Alhambra.

The new arbitration, the company said, had been initiated after a Kazakh court on March 3 upheld the a bankruptcy order imposed on Alhambra’s subsidiary in December.

Saga Creek and Alhambra own a 25-year licence to mine the Uzboy gold field in north Kazakhstan near the border with Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Nur Otan wins Kazakh election with 82%

MARCH 20/21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – ALMATY — Kazakhstan’s ruling Nur Otan party won a parliamentary election with 82% of the vote, although Western monitors said that the vote was not fair.

The result is a near mirror image of a parliamentary election in 2012. Nur Otan scored 81% of the vote four years ago and the quasi-opposition parties Ak Zhol and the People’s Communist Party, which are both pro-President Nazarbayev, polled 7% in 2012 and 2016.

European vote monitors said that the election was broadly unfair although, importantly there had been some progress on previous elections.

Marietta Tidei, the head of the OSCE’s monitoring mission for the Kazakh election, said that Kazakhstan still had some way to go to meet what Europe would consider to be a free and democratic election.

“The ruling party had a clear advantage over others in these elections and, while the parties were generally able to campaign freely, genuine political choice remains insufficient,” she said.

Europe’s main vote monitoring watchdog, the OSCE’s ODHIR, has never judged an election in Kazakhstan to be free and fair.

For the Kazakh authorities, though, the election was important as it imposes more stability on the country just as the economy appears to worsen.

Still, a Conway Bulletin correspondent in Almaty said it was difficult finding people who voted for Nur Otan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s party. Turn out in Almaty was only 34%, the lowest in the country.

Nurbek didn’t vote. His comments on why he didn’t think it was worth voting in the election were broadly representative.

“I don’t think there is any point in voting because my vote is not really going to change anything,” he said.

“Elections are just a play to pretend we have some sort of democracy which we obviously don’t.”

Still, somedid vote and they chose Nur Otan.

“We voted for Nur Otan. There were many parties but with Nur Otan our future is certain,” said a couple who declined to be named as they strolled through Almaty.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Kazakh company buys into Tethys

MARCH 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh energy company Olisol acquired control over additional shares of Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum and is awaiting permission from the Toronto Stock Exchange to reach a 15.8% stake in the company. Under a facility agreement Olisol will also buy additional shares, bringing its ownership in Tethys to around 42%. Oilsol agreed a finance deal with Tethys earlier this year.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)