Archive for November 2nd, 2007
News Roundup - November 2, 2007
EurasiaNet Insight: Kazakhstan: Independent media outlets face clampdown
Independent media outlets in Kazakhstan are facing a clampdown, as allegations and counter-allegations continue to fly over the activities of the president’s former son-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev. Representatives of four newspapers say they are facing coordinated measures – ranging from tax and fire inspections to publishing difficulties. Meanwhile, several websites that regularly carry material on the Aliyev case remain inaccessible in Kazakhstan…
Oil and Gas Eurasia: Victoria provides drilling update at Kazakhstan’s project
Victoria Oil & Gas Plc announces that it has completed drilling of exploration Well 66, commenced operation of pumping at Wells 20 and 73 and commissioned a full geological and geotechnical review of its wholly-owned Kemerkol oil project in the Atyrau Oblast of Kazakhstan…
leven years ago, Anatol Samek made a life-changing decision. Distraught by the declining living conditions in Kazakhstan, where his family had lived for generations, Samek, his wife, and two small children relocated to their country of origin — the Czech Republic…
Kazinform: Russia and Kazakhstan: partnership strategy
As earlier reported, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. In the course of the meeting with him, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev underlined that “Russian vector is the most important in Kazakhstan’s external policy.” …
Hundreds of Kazakh construction workers staged a rare street protest outside President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s residence over unpaid wages. Kazakhstan’s construction sector has been hit hard by wider credit problems in the Central Asian state as some builders, unable to secure sufficient funding, cut back their activities…
Houston Chronicle: Transmeridian receives takeover bids
Energy company Transmeridian Exploration Inc. said Thursday it has received final, non-binding bids for the sale of the company and is now in negotiations with prospective buyers…
Business Line: Almaty unplugged
Almaty — the name conjures visions of a musty Soviet-era city of men in fur hats and dark suits, grey buildings and sombre conferences. But there is nothing drab or dreary about Almaty, the biggest city of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan…
Reuters: Tethys to expand Central Asian presence with Tajik deal
Tethys Petroleum, an independent upstream energy firm with a focus on Central Asia, will invest $8 million in tapping four gas fields in Tajikistan, chief executive David Robson said on Thursday…
Eurasia Daily Monitor: Russia struggles to finalize Caspian pipeline deal with Turkmenistan
On October 26, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov and Gazprom deputy CEO Valery Golubev were reportedly in discussions about what the Turkmen presidential press service described as “issues of drafting inter-governmental agreements on the expansion of the existing gas transportation system in Central Asia and the construction of the gas pipeline along the Caspian shores.” …
Business Week: Book review: The Oil Rush to the Caspian Sea
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s unleashed a modern-day Klondike in the bleak but oil-soaked region around the Caspian Sea. Stories of how companies such as Chevron and ExxonMobil gained access to the huge oil fields of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have leaked out in dribs and drabs, but now Steve LeVine has gathered the whole Wild East tale in one canny and entertaining book, The Oil and the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea…
United Press International: Outside View: Row over Baikonur
On Oct. 26, a Proton heavy launch vehicle lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian republic. Although this can hardly be described as breaking news, Moscow had every reason to be worried because Kazakhstan had suspended all Proton launches after one crashed on Sept. 6…
New Zealand Herald: Son-in-law accuses President of ordering hit on opposition leader
The former son-in-law of the President of Kazakhstan has escalated a family feud by accusing the head of state, Nursultan Nazerbayev, of ordering the killing of an opposition leader…
Kazinform: NATO ready to assist Kazakhstan in Caspian navy creation
“NATO is ready to render support in creation of navy on the Caspian Sea”, Special representative of NATO Secretary General for Central Asia and the Caucasus Robert Simmons stated at a briefing after the meeting with Kazakh Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Kazykhanov…
