MAY31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The three billionaire founders of Kazakhstan’s London-listed miner ENRC have asked to extend the deadline for a takeover proposal by three weeks to June 24, Reuters reported. The billionaires; Alexander Machkevitch, Alijan Ibragimov and Pathokh Chodiev, want support from the Kazakh government and copper miner Kazakhmys.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz authorities declared a state of emergency around the Kumtor gold mine in the east of the country after thousands of protesters demanding more financial benefits clashed with police. The Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan’s biggest industrial project, is owned by Toronto-listed Centerra Gold. The Kyrgyz government owns a 33% stake in Centerra Gold.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Due to Western sanctions against Iran and a sluggish world economy, steel production, an important part of Kazakhstan’s economy, continued to drop in the first four months of 2013, media reported quoting official data. Kazakhstan produced 22% less steel between Jan. and April 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government and the three founders of ENRC, Alexander Machkevitch, Alijan Ibragimov and Pathokh Chodiev, have offered shareholders in the London-listed miner ENRC shares in rival Kazakhmys and cash, Reuters reported. The offer values ENRC, the subject of a fraud investigation, at $5b.
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(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)
APRIL 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — British fraud investigators opened an investigation into Kazakh miner ENRC after several senior executives resigned following allegations of corruption, media reported. ENRC is listed on the London stock exchange but its three main Kazakh shareholders have said they are looking into taking the business private.
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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)
APRIL 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The largest stake-holders in Kazakh miner ENRC, Alexander Machkevitch, Alijan Ibragimov and Patokh Chodiev, said they were considering teaming up with Kazakhstan’s government to buy back the company. ENRC is listed in London and is the subject of a corporate governance review.
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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)
APRIL 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Production of steel, one of Kazakhstan’s most important exports, continued to fall, official statistics showed. In Q1 of 2013, Kazakhstan produced 22% less steel than in the same period in 2012. Analysts blamed the fall on a drop in global demand and sanctions imposed on Iran.
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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)
APRIL 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government announced that it had lifted a moratorium on granting more licences to subsoil developers, underscoring the sector’s importance for Kazakhstan’s future development.
Minerals and energy have been the backbone of Kazakhstan’s economic boom since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and that is not likely to change.
Global demand for metals may have dropped but lifting the ban, which was introduced in 2008 to allow a smooth introduction of new tax codes, will still spur foreign investor interest in Kazakhstan. The country simply holds too much untapped mineral wealth to be ignored.
And the Kazakh minister for new technologies and industry, Asset Issekeshev, immediately invited foreign companies to apply for licences at a tender in May.
Most of the $170b foreign investment in Kazakhstan since 1991 has been in the energy sector although senior government officials told Reuters the emphasis now would be on metals and non-hydrocarbon minerals.
To further encourage this, the government suggested that miners may be exempt from VAT.
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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)
APRIL 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan started the sale of its second largest gold deposit, Jerooy, despite a $400m arbitration case levied by Kazakh investors
Visor Capital, Reuters reported. The Kyrgyz authorities tore up the previous sale of Jerooy after a revolution in 2010. Investors have become increasingly wary of Kyrgyzstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
JAN. 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s government resumed pressure on Centerra Gold, the Canadian mining company that owns the Kumtor mine which accounts for about 12% of the country’s economy, for more cash. Economy minister Temir Sariyev said that an agreement signed with the previous government in 2009 was “murky” and may be torn up.
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(News report from Issue No. 122, published on Feb. 1 2013)
