News Roundup

News Roundup - September 17, 2007

By SRI ⋅ September 17, 2007 ⋅

The Moscow Times: Prodi to Visit Kazakhstan Next Month

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi will visit Kazakhstan from Oct. 7 to Oct. 9, amid an escalating dispute between the country and an Italian-led consortium over the giant Kashagan oil field…

Forbes: Chagala Completes Land Purchase Phase for Its Atyrau, Kazakhstan

Chagala Group Ltd said it has bought 0.8 hectares of land in Atyrau in Kazakhstan, thus completing the land purchase phase of its 8 hectare complex in the city…

Gazeta.KZ: Total Portfolio of Kazakhstan Development Institutions Investment Projects Will Amount to USD6 Billion by January 1, 2008

Total portfolio of Kazakhstan development institutions investment projects will amount USD 6 billion by January 1, 2008, said today during a meeting in the frames of “open doors” “Sustainable Development Fund “Kazyna”" managing board vice chair Maksat Kabashev, reports KZ-today correspondent…

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty: Soaring Bread Prices In Central Asia Give Rise To Domestic Solutions

Prices for bread and other wheat products have been rising in Central Asia to record highs over the past three months, causing hardship for many people. Experts say the reasons behind the surging prices are not local, and that prices have gone up worldwide. Some Central Asian governments, however, are trying to find a solution to the problem inside their countries…

Chicago Tribune: When Health Care Does More Harm Than Good

They were infants, toddlers and preteens admitted with illnesses that should be routine for doctors at children’s hospitals: asthma, stomach flu, pneumonia…
Wall Street Journal: Kazakh Energy Plan Seen Aimed at Kashagan
A proposed law that would allow the Kazakh government to annul natural-resources contracts appears aimed at pressuring Kashagan oil developers led by the Eni SpA amid tense negotiations, rather than as a broad-based threat to energy and mining companies, analysts and a person familiar with the matter said…
Ferghana.ru: Food Crisis of Unprecedented Proportions in Central Asia
Experts say that bread prices in post-Soviet Central Asia are soaring sky-high because of the dough price spiral in Kazakhstan and Russia. Bread prices in Tajikistan are already six times what they were this July. The Tajik Cabinet set up a special commission to consider the situation. No wonder, since more than 60% of what dough and grain Tajikistan needs are exported from Russia and Kazakhstan…
Ferghana.ru: Image for Nazarbayev, Investments for Rakhmon
President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon seconded the idea of a Central Asian Union at the talks in Dushanbe with the visiting President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on September 13. Ferghana.Ru approached Ajdar Kurtov, an expert with the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, for comments…
Reuters: KazMunaiGas E&P H1 Net Income, Oil Output Up
Kazakh oil company KazMunaiGas E&P on Monday reported a 15.7 percent year-on-year rise in first-half net income and higher crude output due to the acquisition of a local oil company…
Reuters: Indicators - Kazakhstan - September 17, 2007
Kazakhstan’s economic indicators based on data provided by the State Statistics Agency, government institutions, the central bank and exchanges…