JAN. 26 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh miner Kazakhmys wants to raise $600m through a secondary listing in Hong Kong this year, media quoted unnamed sources as saying. Kazakhmys is already listed in London. In 2010, the Kazakh government increased its stake in Kazakhmys to 26%.
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(News report from Issue No. 25, published on Jan. 31 2011)
JAN. 20 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – US gold miner Spectral Capital said it had paid $200m for a 65% stake in a “vast” gold deposit in Kazakhstan. It did not give any more specifics about the deposit or who owns the other 35%. Spectral Capital bought a large gold deposit in Siberia last year.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 24, published on Jan. 24 2011)
NOV. 22 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan cancelled a contract to develop its second largest gold deposit signed in 2006 between the state gold mining company and an Austrian company, Reuters reported. Kyrgyzstan said the consortium had failed to develop infrastructure as part of an agreed $200m deal. It plans to re-auction the tender.
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(News report from Issue No. 16, published on Nov. 22 2010)
OCT. 27 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed deals worth over $2b with French President Nikolas Sarkozy in Paris. Aerospace manufacturer EADS will form a joint venture to build helicopters in Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan will buy 300 trains from engineering groups Alstom and nuclear energy company KazAtomProm will form a joint venture with Areva.
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(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 28 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underdeveloped banking systems, a high rate of non-performing loans and inflexible exchange rates are potential brakes on economic recovery in Central Asia and the south Caucasus, the IMF said.
With their reliance on neighbouring Russia and global commodity prices, the global financial downturn in 2009 was tough for the economies of Central Asia and the south Caucasus. This year, with Russia and commodity prices recovering and the impact of domestic fiscal stimulus taking hold, the IMF predicts steady economic growth throughout the regions, other than for Kyrgyzstan.
Remittances from workers in Russia, so important for the poorer Central Asian and Caucasus countries, grew by 26% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
The IMF said that inflation was generally under control at around 8%, although in Uzbekistan it was nearer 11%. For the IMF, the regions’ banking sectors are a concern. In Kazakhstan, the IMF pointed out, non-performing loans total nearly 26% of all loans.
IMF’s GDP % growth figures (2010 and 2011 are predictions):
Armenia +13.7 (2007); +6.9 (2008); -14.2 (2009); +4.0 (2010); +4.6 (2011)
Azerbaijan +25.0 (2007); +10.8 (2008); +9.3 (2009); +4.3 (2010); +1.8 (2011)
Georgia +12.3 (2007); +2.3 (2008); -3.9 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +4.0 (2011)
Kazakhstan +8.9 (2007); +3.2 (2008); +1.2 (2009); +5.4 (2010); +5.1 (2011)
Kyrgyzstan +8.5 (2007); +8.4 (2008); +2.3 (2009); -3.5 (2010); +7.1 (2011)
Tajikistan +7.8 (2007); +7.9 (2008); +3.4 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +5.0 (2011)
Turkmenistan +11.6 (2007); +10.5 (2008); +6.1 (2009); +9.4 (2010); +11.5 (2011)
Uzbekistan +9.5 (2007); +9.0 (2008); +8.1 (2009); +8.0 (2010); +7.0 (2011)
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(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 5 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government raised its stake in Kazakhstan miner Kazakhmys, listed in London, to over 26% by buying 11% of the company from chairman Vladimir Kim in a deal estimated at over $1.3b. In a report this year, lobby group Global Witness linked Mr Kim to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
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(News report from Issue No. 10, published on Oct. 7 2010)
SEPT. 21 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Showing its appetite for foreign expansion, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), the London-listed Kazakh mining company, bought the 50% stake of Brazilian iron ore mine Bahia Minerals it didn’t already own for $670m. ENRC is one of the world’s biggest ferroalloy producers.
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(News report from Issue No. 8, published on Sept. 23 2010)
SEPT. 8 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan unexpectedly doubled its industrial output forecast for 2010 to 7.5% because of a sharp boom in production in mining and processing industries such as chemicals, foods and machine-building. In the first 6 months of 2010 Kazakh GDP grew by 8%.
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(News report from Issue No. 6, published on Sept. 9 2010)
