News Roundup - November 13, 2007

Bloomberg: China will get stake in uranium mine in Kazakhstan

China will get a stake in a 2,000- ton-a-year uranium mine in Kazakhstan in exchange for its share in a uranium-processing business, state-owned Kazatomprom said…

Itar-Tass: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan sign plan of joint action in politics

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have signed a plan of joint action in politics, cultural and humanitarian spheres, trade, and economy over the short-term. The document was signed by Foreign Ministers Marat Tazhin of Kazakhstan and Edvan Karabayev at the first session of the council of foreign ministers of the two countries…

Reuters: Kazakh oil fund seen at $26 bln at year-end

Kazakhstan’s state oil stability fund is likely to expand to up to $26 billion by the end of 2007, Finance Minister Natalia Korzhova said on Monday…

Wall Street Journal: Severstal reaches deal to acquire Celtic Resources

Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal said it struck a deal to buy Celtic Resources Holdings PLC for £173 million ($361.8 million), ending a hostile takeover bid for the gold-mining company…

neweurasia.net: Aliev affair and OSCE bid

Despite the apparently illegal interception of the top officials’ telephone conversations, the General Prosecutor’s Office still has not started investigation into the matter…

Interfax: Chimkent oil refinery back in service after repairs

Repairs have been completed at the PetroKazakhstan Oil Products (Chimkent oil refinery), a petrochemical subsidiary of PetroKazakhstan oil extracting company, a company spokesman told Interfax on Monday…

Reuters: Kazakhstan’s Alliance repays $239 worth of loans

Kazakhstan’s Alliance Bank has repaid a total of $239 million worth of syndicated loans, the Central Asian state’s No.4 bank by assets said on Monday…

CNN Money: ExxonMobil CEO says Kashagan spat talks are “very active”

The current talks to resolve a dispute between the consortium developing the giant Kashagan field and the Kazakh government are very active, Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., ( XOM), said Monday…

Reuters: KazMunaiGas Jan-Sept net profit up to $1.7 bln

Net profit at Kazakh state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas rose to 207.9 billion tenge in the first nine months of this year from 183.1 billion in the same 2006 period, it said on Monday…

Reuters: Kazakh mortgage firm finalising $100 mln loan

Kazakhstan Mortgage Company will borrow $100 million from Credit Suisse later this year in a deal marking a recovery from a liquidity squeeze on the domestic market, a senior finance official said on Monday…