News Roundup

News Roundup - September 27, 2007

By SRI ⋅ September 27, 2007 ⋅

BBC: Threat to investors in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s parliament has passed a law allowing the government to break contracts with foreign companies. The law still needs to be adopted by the higher chamber of parliament and ratified by the president…

FinanceAsia.com: Could Kazakhstan Suffer a Credit Crisis?

Central Asian bankers were unusually candid – at times even argumentative – at what many had expected to be a staid banking conference in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Instead, the meeting turned into a lively debate over whether or not the country’s banks are facing a crisis…

Forbes: PetroChina Parent’s Xinjiang Oil Pipeline Enters Operations

China National Petroleum Corp, the parent of PetroChina Co Ltd, said its oil pipeline serving oil fields in Xinjiang region has entered commercial operations, which has linked with the Sino-Kazakhstan crude pipeline…

NewEurasia.net: Resource Nationalism and Failure in Ratings

The Kazakh government now can review and break up the contracts in extractive sectors. From now on, according to the new bill unanimously adopted bill by the Kazakh parliament, it will be legitimately a one-way road, not requiring negotiations as such…

The Financial Times: Turkmenistan Opens Up Gas and Oil Fields

Turkmenistan’s president declared the gas-rich but isolated central Asian state “open to the world” on Wednesday, as it stepped up its efforts to deepen relations with the west since the death of its autocratic leader last December…

Stratfor: Kazakhstan: End of an Era

The Kazakh parliament approved a measure Sept. 26 empowering the government to re-fabricate any contract it desires. If implemented, the decision will mark the end of Kazakhstan’s oil-fueled economic growth…

Gazeta.KZ: Kazakhstan Has No Objection to Objective Cost Increase on Kashagan Development Project

Kazakhstan has no objection to objective cost increase on Kashagan development project, said today in the interview to journalists Sauat Mynbayev, the RK Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources…
Reuters: Kazakhstan Holds Rates, Delays Bank Reserves Rise
Kazakhstan’s central bank said on Thursday it would keep its key refinancing rate unchanged at 9.0 percent despite inflationary pressure…