News Roundup - October 9, 2007

International Herald Tribune: Kazakhstan Says Government Won’t Interfere with Kashagan Investors
President Nursultan Nazarbayev moved Monday to reassure investors that the Kazakh government was not seeking to alter the terms of the Kashagan offshore oil project, indicating a possible cooling in a bitter dispute with the Italian-led consortium developing the giant field…
Reuters: Kazakhstan Reassures Italy over Kashagan Oil Field
Kazakhstan reassured Italy on Monday it would not change the terms of its contract to develop the huge Kashagan oilfield with Italy’s Eni, which it blames for major cost overruns and production delays…
The Financial Times: Nazarbayev Says No Revision of Kashagan
Kazakhstan’s dispute with an Italian-led consortium over delays and cost overruns in developing the Kashagan oilfield can be resolved without rewriting the contract, President Nursultan Nazarbayev told Italy’s visiting prime minister on Monday…
Forbes: Eni CEO Expects to Close Talks with Kazakh Govt over Kashagan by Year-End
Eni SpA CEO Paolo Scaroni said he expects talks with the Kazakh government over the Kashagan oilfield to be wrapped up this year…
CNN Money: Kazakhstan Long-Term Foreign Currency Ratings Lowered to ‘BBB-’
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its long-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Kazakhstan to ‘BBB-’ from ‘BBB’, and its long- and short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings to ‘BBB/A-3′ from ‘BBB+/A-2′, citing funding problems in the Kazakh financial system…
Times Online: Flood in Kazakhstan Starts Mining Sell-off
A flood in Kazakhstan prompted widespread selling of mining stocks yesterday, continuing the sector’s boom-and-bust movement of recent months…
RIA Novosti: Kazakhstan Wants Russia to Pay $60 Million in Damages for Proton Crash
Kazakhstan is seeking 1.5 billion rubles ($60 million) from Russia in compensation for a rocket crash on its territory, a Kazakh regional governor said Monday…
EurofundingMag: EBRD Intensifies Activities in Kazakhstan
Building on a strong and successful cooperation the EBRD and Kazakhstan are intensifying their activities. During his first visit to the country, EBRD First Vice President Varel Freeman has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Keirat Kelimbetov, CEO of the Sustainable Development Fund Kazyna…
International Herald Tribune: Malaysia’s 1st Astronaut, American and Russian Prepare for Blastoff from Central Asia
A crew that includes Malaysia’s first astronaut and an American who will become the first woman to command the international space station prepared Monday for blastoff later this week…
Ferghana.ru: Construction of a Politically Correct Pyramid or Snapshots of Dushanbe Summits
A colossal array of twelve state flags of CIS countries was installed on one of transport junctions in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on the eve of three summits - those of the Commonwealth, Eurasian Economic Cooperation Organization, and CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization…
Times Online: Run on Kazakh Bank Places Loan Covenants in Jeopardy
Kazakhstan’s third-largest bank yesterday gave warning that it would breach its loan covenants if customers continued with a run that saw 10 per cent of its deposits, or 27 billion tenges (£110 million), withdrawn in July and August…
Reuters: Kazakh Alliance Bank May Breach Loan Covenants
Alliance Bank, the No.3 Kazakh bank by assets, warned on Monday that it could breach loan covenants if it suffers a further withdrawal of customer deposits…
The Financial Times: Severstal Turns Up Heat on Celtic
Severstal turned hostile in its bid for Celtic Resources on Monday, warning that its 29.7 per cent stake in the Aim-listed gold miner “can be used to block any other party from acquiring full control of Celtic and could potentially dissuade third parties from making a competing offer”…