Archive for December, 2007
News Roundup - December 30, 2007
Wall Street Journal: Oil Firms Are Called to Talks On Stalled Kashagan Project
The government of Kazakhstan has signaled what could be a breakthrough in its standoff with foreign oil companies developing the massive Kashagan oil field in the northern Caspian Sea…
Financial Post: Russia dominates energy stories, but Kazakhstan-Eni dispute takes top spot
Russia may have dominated the rankings for biggest global energy story in 2007, but it was neighbouring Kazakhstan that topped Wellington West’s list…
Bloomberg: Eni May Cancel 9% of Its Stock; Sees Kashagan Settlement Soon
Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest oil company, may cancel 9 percent of its own stock and begin a new share buyback program, Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni said…
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty: The Forgotten Famine
About 70 kilometers west of Kazakhstan’s commercial capital, Almaty, the village is dissected by a highway. Farmers work in the fields growing mainly melons and wheat…
Fox News: Kazakstan Kagazy Announces Share Capital Increase in Its Subsidiaries and Loan Repayment
Kazakhstan Kagazy PLC, owner of one of Kazakhstan’s leading industrial groups, today announced the decision of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan Kagazy JSC, its wholly owned subsidiary, and its affiliated companies to increase the share capital of Kagazy Recycling LLP and affiliated companies by US$ 10 million…
Forbes: Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGas rated ‘Baa2′ with stable outlook - Moody’s
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a ‘Baa2′ issuer rating and stable outlook to JSC KazMunaiGas Exploration Production (KMG), the second-largest oil producer in Kazakhstan…
Oil and Gas Journal: Kazakhstan nonstate gas field flow starts
Tethys Petroleum Ltd., Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK, started gas production on Dec. 19 from Kyzyloi gas field in Kazakhstan northwest of the Aral Sea…
United Press International: Outside View: Nabucco cut by Caspian line
The last few months of 2007 were good for Russia, which has been fighting this year to affirm its leadership in the hydrocarbons market. And it may have spelled the end for the Nabucco pipeline, which Europe has wanted as a way to bypass reliance on Moscow…
Reuters: Kazakh Kazkommertsbank repays $700 mln loan tranche
Kazkommertsbank, Kazakhstan’s biggest lender, said on Wednesday it had repaid a $700 million syndicated loan tranche…
People’s Daily: Chinese oil giant to finance Central Asia-China gas pipeline
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will invest 16 billion yuan (2.16 billion U.S. dollars) to fund construction of a planned Central Asia-China natural gas pipeline, CNPC’s listed subsidiary PetroChina said on Friday…
News Roundup - December 26, 2007
International Herald Tribune: Kazakh government seeks to double its stake in Eni-led oil project
Kazakhstan is seeking to more than double its stake in the Kashagan oil project, led by the Italian company Eni, as compensation for delays and cost overruns, a government official said Tuesday…
Reuters: Kazakhstan says seeks 16.8 pct stake in Kashagan
Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Tuesday his country was seeking a 16.8 percent stake in the giant Kashagan oilfield, confirming earlier plans to get a stake equal to those of the projects’ largest participants…
Reuters: Japan firms, Kazatomprom plan nuclear fuel project
Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Co said on Wednesday it and trading house Sumitomo Corp would sign an accord with Kazakh state-owned nuclear firm Kazatomprom on cooperation in uranium processing to fuel Kansai’s nuclear power plants…
RIA Novosti: Japanese firms, Kazakhstan prepare uranium production from 2010
Japanese companies are set for cooperation with the Kazakh government to launch nuclear fuel production in Kazakhstan in 2010, the Japanese economics ministry said on Wednesday…
Global Voices: Debates over Latinization of Kazakh Language
Kazakhstan intends to switch the state language to the Latin script. It was announced that the transition will take 12-15 years. As adam_kesher writes, the plan stirred many disputes and arguments – in particular, Russia and a part of Kazakhstan’s Russian-speaking population considers switching to Latin is an adverse move against them…
RIA Novosti: Caspian pipeline seems to have defeated Nabucco
The last few months of 2007 were good for Russia, which has been fighting this year to affirm its leadership in the hydrocarbons market…
Neweurasia.net: Dangerous Places
I decided to analyze - where it is more dangerous to live in our country in the cities or in the rural areas? In order to do so, I reviewed the mortality caused by accidents, traumas and poisoning in 2005…
TREND: The PreCaspian Gas Pipeline Excludes Construction of TransCaspian: Expert
The PreCaspian gas pipeline can act as a strict rival to the TransCaspian gas pipeline, or even rule out its construction, Konstantin Batunin, an analyst of an investment company Alfa Bank, stated…
4Hoteliers.com: Hilton’s first in Kazakhtan
Hilton Hotels Corporation has today announced that it is set to open its first hotel in Kazakhstan through a management agreement with Expo-Center Astana LLP. The new Hilton Astana, which will have approximately 237 rooms, is scheduled to open in the country’s capital city in the first quarter of 2010…
Neweurasia.net: Crisis has gone?
Mukhtar Ablyazov, Kazakhstan’s one-time energy minister and political prisoner, currently the chairman and principal owner of JSC Bank TuranAlem, country’s second-largest financial institution by assets, gave an interview to Bloomberg recently…
Interfax: Anti-inflation policy Kazakhstan’s 2008 priority - Masimov
Anti-inflation policy is a priority of the Kazakh government in 2008, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov said…
St. Petersburg Times: A Little Oil Firm Playing a Big Game
In a time of fast-encroaching state control over the oil sector, Imperial Energy is a rare bird. Founded in 2004 by a flamboyant English lawyer, the London-listed firm has seen a lot in its short history…
The Oil and the Glory: A Possible Kashagan Settlement; Exxon Tries to Keep the Old Days Alive
The signs are that the Italian-led partners developing the suspended supergiant Kashagan oilfield are near a settlement with Kazakhstan…
Platform: Kazakhstan to lose $20 billion from “greedy” oil contract
Kazakhstan is set to lose up to $20 billion in the next 10 years, due to an unfair contract to extract the world’s largest undeveloped oilfield. These are the findings of a report released today by development and environment organisations, as a dispute between the Kazakhstan government and oil companies failed today to reach its conclusion…
Reuters: German private jet crashes in Kazakhstan, one dead
A small German-owned private jet crashed during take-off from Almaty airport on Wednesday, killing its only passenger, Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry said…
News Roundup - December 24, 2007
Reuters: Kazakhstan says Exxon stalling Kashagan talks
Kazakhstan and an Eni-led consortium of oil majors have set January15 as the new deadline for talks over the fate of the giant Kashagan oilfield, Kazakh energy minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Monday…
CNN Money: ExxonMobil Kashagan Resolution Terms ‘Risky’-Interfax
Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said Monday that U.S. ExxonMobil’s (XOM) conditions to resolve a dispute over the giant Kashagan oil field was risky for Kazakhstan and differed from the rest of the Eni SpA-led (E) consortium, Interfax news agency reported…
Reuters: Kazakhs win better terms on Kashagan, talks go on
The major oil companies overseeing the massive Kashagan oil project in Kazakhstan have conceded more profits from the field to the country, but the state wants a larger stake, industry sources said on Friday…
Wall Street Journal: Kashagan Disputes Continue
A Western consortium developing one of the world’s biggest oil fields agreed to pay the government of Kazakhstan as much as $4 billion in compensation for cost overruns and production delays, according to people close to the negotiations…
Financial Times: Kashagan partners close to deal over field cost
Kazakhstan and the group of oil companies led by Eni of Italy yesterday came close to a resolution of the dispute over the Kashagan oilfield after all the foreign partners agreed in principle to sell part of their stakes in the pro-ject to KazMunaigas, Kaz-akhstan’s state oil company…
BBC News: Kazakh oil field deadline delayed
Kazakhstan’s government has said that the deadline for talks with an Eni-led consortium about the Kashagan oil field has been delayed until 15 January…
Stratfor: Kazakhstan: Slipping Away From Moscow
The Kazakh and Russian presidents are meeting in Moscow on Dec. 20 to hash out a series of energy issues. The Russian grip on Kazakhstan is loosening, and Russia is in damage-control mode…
(Note: If this link does not bring you to Stratfor’s premium content, try searching for the article through Google News.)
Bloomberg: Kazakhstan’s Bank Lending Frozen in Subprime Squeeze
It’s November, and Kazakhstan’s one-time energy minister is in his office in Almaty, the former Soviet republic’s largest city. The chairman and principal owner of JSC Bank TuranAlem, Kazakhstan’s second-biggest financial institution by assets, Ablyazov is planning to roll up investments from Armenia to Russia into a holding company…
Financial Times: Little-known Kazakh miner poised for FTSE 100
The listing of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, the Kazakhstan-based mining group, on the London Stock Exchange this month was one of the largest floats of the year, but also one of the most low-key…
Financial Times: Russia seals Caspian gas pipeline deal
Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan finalised a landmark agreement on Thursday to build a pipeline to transport gas to Russia, tightening Moscow’s control over Central Asian gas exports…
TREND: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia have agreed of construction of the Pre-Caspian pipeline
President Putin has signed an agreement with his Kazakh and Turkmen counterparts to build the Pre-Caspian Sea gas pipeline. The U.S. and EU have been pushing for the alternative Trans-Caspian pipeline which would bypass Russia…
Itar-Tass: RF, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan sign Caspian gas pipe accord
Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed a long-awaited breakthrough intergovernmental agreement on construction of a Caspian gas pipeline on Thursday. This pipeline will supply the Turkmen gas bypassing the Caspian Sea along the sea eastern coast by new pipelines that will be integrated in the Russian gas supply system…
International Herald Tribune: Russia signs Central Asian pipeline deal
Desperate to meet growing domestic and European demand, Russia signed a major deal Thursday with the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea, a move that could strengthen Russia’s monopoly on energy exports from this region, analysts said…
Eurasia Daily Monitor: China secures new access to Kazakh oil
On December 11 Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov and Ma Fu Tsai, deputy chairman of the Chinese State Council Committee on Energy, arrived at Kenkiyak, a small settlement in Aktobe region, to announce the start date for construction of the 750-kilometer long Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipeline…
Reuters: Kazakh leader says Russia clears CPC oil link boost
Russia has lifted its opposition to the expansion of a Chevron-led oil export pipeline via its territory, known as the Caspian Pipeline Consortuim, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday…
PR-USA: Kazakhstan Kagazy PLC: Financial Results for the Third Quarter
Kazakhstan Kagazy PLC, owner of Central Asia’s largest producer of paper, corrugated board and packaging products and one of the leading industrial real estate development companies in the country, today announced its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2007…
Gazeta.KZ: Kazakhstan could access WTO by 2008-2009
Kazakhstan could access the World Trade Organization (WTO) by 2008 - 2009 if protects during the negotiations its own interests. Such an opinion was expressed in the interview to KZ-today correspondent the source in the government…
Reuters: Kazakh ENRC plans domestic share offering in ‘08
London-listed Kazakh mining and metals group ENRC plans to offer shares on the Kazakh Stock Exchange in 2008, ENRC board member and Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Yergozhin said on Monday…
New York Times: The fuel fixers
James Giffen likes to share the wealth. His generosity to friends is said to have included $180,000 for jewelry, $30,000 for fur coats, a luxury speedboat, two snowmobiles and lots of cash. Overall, according to prosecutors in New York, Giffen gave more than $78 million to senior officials in Kazakhstan…
Reuters: Kazakhstan gold/forex reserves fall to $18.086 bln
Kazakhstan’s net gold and foreign currency reserves fell to $18.086 billion on Dec.19 from $18.117 billion on Nov. 30, the central bank said in a statement posted on its web site…
News Roundup - December 20, 2007
Forbes: Kazakhstan’s outlook cut to negative, ‘BBB’ rating affirmed - Fitch
Fitch Ratings said it revised the outlook on Kazakhstan’s long-term issuer default rating to negative from stable and affirmed the country’s long term issuer default at ‘BBB’…
Forbes: KazMunaiGaz’s long-term IDR outlook cut to negative from stable - Fitch
Fitch Ratings said it cut the outlook on Kazakh national oil company KazMunaiGaz’s (KMG) long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (IDR) to negative from stable to reflect a similar change in the outlook for the Republic of Kazakhstan’s ‘BBB’ long-term IDR…
Reuters: Russia to seal Central Asian gas pipeline deal
Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are to sign a deal on Thursday on building a pipeline that will allow Moscow to keep Central Asian gas flows to the West under its control, sources and analysts said on Wednesday…
Neweurasia.net: Kazakhstan in 2007: Filthy Politics and Grapes of Wrath
The passing year was rich in shaking news and political scandals in Kazakhstan, all of which have been finding reflection in the blogosphere’s reactions and online debates. Many of those events will find their place in the history textbooks of the future, and life may never remain the same after 2007…
Bloomberg: Max Petroleum Halts Output at Zhana Makat Field in Kazakhstan
Max Petroleum Plc., a U.K. oil explorer operating in Kazakhstan, suspended oil production at its Zhana Makat field as it waits for government approval of its gas-utilization plan…
Guardian Unlimited: Kazakh banking system stabilised in Nov - Saidenov
The condition of Kazakhstan’s banking system improved in November, with deposits rising and the monetary authorities able to accumulate dollar reserves, the head of the National Bank said on Wednesday. “November preliminary data show that the overall situation is stabilising,” National Bank Chairman Anvar Saidenov told a news briefing…
Reuters: Kazakhstan Jan-Nov copper output falls 6.0 pct
Kazakhstan’s refined copper output fell 6.0 percent year-on-year to 363,434 tonnes in the January-November 2007, the statistics agency said on Thursday…
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty: Russian Group Storms Onto Kazakh, Uzbek TV Scenes
A Russian media conglomerate’s recent expansion into Central Asia has sparked considerable discussion in the region. Is it just a smart business deal — or another instance of Moscow’s intention, by stealth or by wealth, to reassert hegemony over the lands of its former empire, this time by broadcasting Russian-language soap operas and other fluff rather than news and information?
TREND: Kazakhstan Regards BTC as Important Route for Export of its Oil
Kazakhstan regards the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) as an important and prospective alternative for transport of its hydrocarbon resources, Kazakhstan’s charge d’affaires in Azerbaijan Arman Kairbaev said on 14 December…
Kommersant: Kazakhs Dissatisfied after Rocket Crash
The Kazakhs demanded compensation to pay for the monitoring of the health of local residents for three years, to obtain special medical equipment, to compensate for agricultural lands that would lay fallow in the “threat zone,” compensation for ecological damage and for general aid to the residents of Karaganda Region…
Associated Press: New ‘Great Game’ for Central Asia Riches
The driver of the 18-wheel tractor-trailer from China idling at the Kazakhstan-China border said apples were the cargo he brought to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s booming commercial center…
Hemscott: Hambledon Mining says gold production started at Sekisovskoye project
Hambledon Mining PLC said gold production has started at its Sekisovskoye project in Kazakhstan. The first gold pour will take place on Dec 26, it said…
Ferghana.ru: The government of Kazakhstan is determined to repossess energy assets
“Wherever possible, the government of Kazakhstan stands for repossession of energy assets in strategic spheres in the name of energy security,” Prime Minister Karim Masimov told Nur Otan faction of the parliament. “Certain steps in this direction are already taken.”
Neweurasia.net: Interesting Islands
There are very beautiful islands in the Carribean Sea - British Virgin Islands - a paradise corner, governed by a British governor. You can have a gorgeous vacation and start an offshore firm. 41 per cent of all offshore companies are registered on the BVI…
Hemscott: Zhaikmunai to revise IPO schedule pending outcome of talks with Kazakh govt
Zhaikmunai LP said it has extended its previously planned IPO schedule pending the outcome of ongoing discussions with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources and KazMunaiGaz National Co…
New Europe: Russia to forge ahead with Pre-Caspian gas pipeline
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has signed a decree instructing the Industry and Energy Ministry and Foreign Ministry to hold negotiations with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to construct the Pre-Caspian gas pipeline, Russia’s government’s press service said…
Reuters: Kazakhmys says copper South Mine restarts after flood
Kazakh copper miner Kazakhmys said on Friday that its South Mine in the Zhezkazgan complex has started producing and should be back to full production by the end of the year…
New York Times: Central Asia on Front Line in Energy Battle
In the scrub brush desert south of this ancient Silk Road town, the natural gas wellheads are built on modest concrete platforms about the size of basketball courts. Because the gas is naturally pressurized, pumps are not needed to bring it to the surface. Pipes simply kiss the ground and gas pours through them…
Rigzone: Kazakhs Seen with Raised Stake in Kashagan Deal
After months of hard bargaining and two missed deadlines, a consortium led by Italian Eni SpA (E) looks closer to settling a dispute over developing the offshore Kashagan oilfield in the northern Kazakhstan section of the Caspian Sea…
Central Asia Petroleum Negotiating Sale of MangistauMunaiGas
The Indonesian company Central Asia Petroleum Ltd., majority owner of AO Mangistaumunaigas (MMG), has decided to sell a majority stake in the Kazakh oil company. According to sources, negotiations with several foreign companies have already begun. It is already known that the Kazakh national oil company KazMunaiGas (KMG) plans to acquire at least 25 percent of the company, probably not later than in the first half of 2008.
According to sources in the company, Central Asia Petroleum Ltd. intends to price the whole company at $4.3 billion. At the end of 2006, when the management of the company attempted to delist its shares from the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) to prevent a supposed hostile takeover, analysts estimated the value of the company at $4 billion. Even though at that time, despite circulating rumors, no transaction took place, interest in MMG did not abate. “Chinese, American and Russian companies have shown interest in acquiring a controlling stake in the company”, said a source in the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. “Lukoil has been actively interested. Furthermore, the Indian concern Mittal Steel which has recently acquired significant interests in oil and gas and power generation is often mentioned as an interested party”, noted Dmitriy Aleksandrov, an analyst at the Russian brokerage Financial Bridge in an interview with Kazakh business weekly Business & Power. According to the analyst, though, the structure of the company is extremely opaque, and it is very difficult to accurately estimate its value. “Based on the company’s oil production, the price tag could range from $3 to $4.5 billion,” thinks Aleksandrov. “I assume that the 25 percent stake that KMG is expected to acquire will be priced closer to the upper range”. In his opinion, the remaining shares could be acquired by a strategic foreign investor like Lukoil, Mittal Steel or Chinese CNPC. “The participation of American investors appears less likely”, believes the analyst.
“The majority of shares in the company will be sold after KazMunaiGaz acquires the blocking stake in MangistauMunaiGas. That transaction must take place in the beginning of 2008 “, reported a source in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. The blocking stake in the company is necessary to enable KMG to exercise control over who will be allowed to acquire the remaining shares in the company. “As soon as the 25 percent are ‘returned’ to the state, no decision will be made without the participation of the national oil company. Indeed, besides its oil and gas interests, MMG owns 55 percent of the Pavlodar petrochemical plant. And much will depend on who controls the refinery, among other, possibly, the prices of gasoline. For Kazakhstan, this is a strategic asset”, he emphasized. “Most likely, the Pavlodar refinery will be sold separately from the oil and gas assets that MMG controls. But this is still a question of negotiation.”
News Roundup - December 14, 2007
Financial Times: Kazakhstan vows to preserve banking sector
Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, has pledged to prevent any collapse of the country’s banking sector and accused international ratings agencies of being “non-objective” after Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook on eight local banks…
CACI Analyst: OSCE designates Kazakhstan as first Central Asian presidency
At their November 29-30 meeting, the foreign ministers of the 56 member governments of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) designated Kazakhstan as the first Central Asian country—and also the first former Soviet republic—to assume the position, in 2010, of the OSCE Presidency…
CACI Analyst: Kazakhstan’s foreign investment law changes again
A little over a month ago, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev signed amendments passed several weeks previously by the Majilis (parliament) to the law “On the Subsurface and Subsurface Use” that would allow the government to amend or annul natural-resource contracts if these are judged to threaten the country’s national security.
Reuters: Kazakhstan Jan-Nov copper output falls 6.0 pct
Kazakhstan’s refined copper output fell 6.0 percent year-on-year to 363,434 tonnes in the January-November 2007, the statistics agency said on Thursday…
Today’s Zaman: Kazakhstan pledges to supply oil for BTC pipeline
Kazakhstan will supply oil to a pipeline transporting Caspian crude oil to Western markets through Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said yesterday…
Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Unclear Kyrgyz-Kazak border makes life tough for villagers
Most of the long and winding frontier between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan is a picture of peace and tranquility. With a border drawn mainly on natural geographic lines, the two countries – the Goliath of Central Asia and its much smaller southern neighbour - have avoided the kind of frontier disputes that have bedevilled Kyrgyzstan’s relations with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan…
United Press International: OMEL to remove hiccups for Kazakh gas
ONGC Videsh Ltd. says a few contractual obstacles need to be resolved before it gets its first oil and gas asset in Kazakhstan…
News Roundup - December 13, 2007
Eurasia Insight: Experts caution on OSCE announcement
The news that Kazakhstan will serve as the 2010 chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is generating a mixed reaction among international experts and human rights activists. Some believe the decision undermines the OSCE’s ability to act as a vehicle for democratization, but others hope Kazakhstan can serve as a bridge that helps close existing gaps in the organization…
The Moscow Times: Kazakhstan aluminum plant opens
Kazakh metals major Eurasian Natural Resources opened a $900 million aluminum smelter on Wednesday, the country’s first, which it expects will hit full capacity of 250,000 tons per year by 2011…
The Oil and the Glory: Is America’s dethroned king of Kazakhstan on his way back?
After four years of ignominious exile from his powerful perch in Kazakhstan, New York lawyer James Giffen may have an opening for a revival…
U.S. Department of Defense: Kazakhstan extends counter proliferation program with U.S
The Republic of Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the United States of America Erlan Idrissov will co-host with the U.S. Department of Defense a signing ceremony to extend the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Kazakhstan…
Itar-Tass: RF approves Caspian gas coop with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
Russia’s government has approved a Caspian gas pipeline cooperation agreement with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan…
Eurasia Daily Monitor: Kazakhstan notes Afghanistan’s emerging security agenda
Kazakhstan’s ruling elite has clearly been in a self-congratulatory mood since securing the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010. However, as its foreign policy evolves in the meantime, there is no guarantee that Kazakhstan will emerge as an OSCE-inspired Eurasian bastion of democracy…
Asian Investor: Who wants to invest in Kazakhstan?
In Kazakstan for example, there are a total of 437 listed companies contributing a market capitalization of $64 billion. Its GDP is likely to triple from $3,910 per capita in 1998 to close to $11,188.1 within a decade…
Guardian Unlimited: Kazakh leader says he won’t let banks collapse
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev promised on Wednesday to prevent any local bank from collapsing, and criticised credit ratings downgrades as “not objective”…
Reuters: Kazakh ENRC to invest $2.3 billion in growth
Kazakh metals major Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. ENRC.L plans to invest a total of $2.3 billion to develop its business over the next four years, its chief executive said on Wednesday…
PR Newswire: Kazakhstan: A space odyssey
Since independence, Kazakhstan hes been home to the Baikonur cosmodrome located to the east of the Aral Sea. Though Russia negotiated the use of the launch site until 2050, the agreement signed in 2004 increased Kazakhstan’s role in the site’s management and use for non-military purposes…
Neweurasia.net: Almaty, dream destination?
Almaty is going to become a new international tourist hotspot, says Wall Street Journal. It has been listed by the tourist business professionals among such dream destinations as Vietnam, San-Paulo, the Caribbeans and Seychelles, Mauritius and Abu-Dhabi…
Neweurasia.net: Latinization of the Kazakh language
Kazakhstan intends to switch the state language to the Latin script. This transition will take 12-15 years and be based on the experience of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It will be implemented in 6 stages…
Danske Bank: More troubles for the banks - risk of spill-over
Yesterday the rating agency Standard & Poor.s changed its outlook on eight Kazakhstan banks to “Negative” from “Stable”. The eight banks are: Kazkommertsbank JSC (KKB), Bank TuranAlem, Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan, Alliance Bank JSC, Temirbank JSC, BTA Ipoteka Mortgage Co., JSC Nurbank, and JSC Eurasian Bank…
Hemscott: Kazakhmys says stake value in Eurasian Natural Resources now at 2.32 bln usd
Kazakhmys PLC said the value of its 14.6 pct stake in Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) is now about 2.32 bln usd, based on ENRC’s share price of 608 pence on the LSE…
Itar-Tass: Eurasian Banker Club founded
The Eurasian Banker Club has been founded. The constituent meeting was held in Almaty on Wednesday…
Today’s Zaman: Gül heads to Kazakhstan for ‘joint vision’
President Abdullah Gül departed Ankara yesterday to pay an official four-day visit to Kazakhstan, coming only days after his last week trip to another Central Asian country, Turkmenistan…
Gazeta.KZ: By 2020 Kazakhstan plans to extract about 145 million of tones of coal
By 2020 Kazakhstan plans to extract about 145 million of tones of coal annually, said during the round table in Mazhilis The RK Energy and Mineral Resources vice Minister, Duisenbay Turganov…
Reuters: S&P outlook cut on Kazakh banks unjustified - central bank
The National Bank of Kazakhstan sees no reasons for Standard & Poor’s decision to cut its outlook on banks, as the state is willing to support the sector, its deputy head, Medet Sartbayev, said on Wednesday…
News Roundup - December 12, 2007
Stratfor: China, Kazakhstan: Pipelines and the Balance of Power
China has broken ground on the final portion of a pipeline linking the massive energy reserves of the Caspian Sea directly to China. That realization will be the culmination of 15 years of strategic planning, and will change the balance of power between China, Russia and the United States…
Hemscott: Kazakhstan-China pipeline to be completed in 2009 - company
A pipeline project linking Kazakhstan and China is to be completed in October 2009, Kazakhstan’s state-run oil group said…
Reuters: ENI CEO says London meet won’t solve Kashagan row
Italian oil group Eni’s Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said he did not believe a meeting with Kazakh officials in London on Wednesday would reach a definitive solution to the dispute over the Kashagan oilfield…
Guardian Unlimited: Eni CEO seen staying put as Kazakh dispute simmers
Italy is seen as likely to renew Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni’s mandate to run the state-controlled oil firm despite speculation about his future…
CNN Money: Kashagan wed meeting not viewed “conclusive” - Eni CEO
A meeting in London Wednesday between the consortium developing the Kashagan oil project and the Kazakhstan government following cost overruns and delays in output isn’t expected to be “conclusive”, said Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni of Eni SpA (E) Tuesday…
Eurasia Daily Monitor: Godfather of KazMunaiGas joins top echelons of power
On December 6 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Nurlan Balgimbayev to be his advisor. Shortly before the announcement, a new wave of administrative reforms replaced several regional governors and top government officials, including the ministers of finance and energy and mineral resources…
Registan.net: Tasty travels: Almaty, Kazakhstan
The New York Times discovers what the rest of us have known for many years: Almaty is an alright place to visit…
CNN Money: Eight Kazakh Banks’ outlook cut to negative on concerns over asset quality - S&P
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it cut the outlook on eight Kazakh banks to negative from stable citing concerns over the increasing pressure on asset quality and liquidity, with the credit market turmoil stretching on…
EurasiaNet: Russia seeking to keep Kazakhstan happy
It was Lord Palmerston, one of the chief architects of Britain’s imperial policy in the 19th century, who stated that a nation has no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev is putting a 21st century twist on Palmerston’s maxim and applying it to the Caspian Basin oil-and-gas game. Russia, as the state with the most to lose in the Caspian Basin at present, is heeding what Nazarbayev has to say…
TREND: Kazakhstan Needs to Maintain Predictability of Investment Climate – Ambassador
“As a friend of Kazakhstan we consider it important that Kazakhstan maintains a predictable investment climate,” the Netherlands Ambassador to Kazakhstan Klaas van der Tempel stated in an interview with the Trend Capital reporter…
News Roundup - December 11, 2007
EurasiaNet: Officials pledge to act as OSCE bridge connecting North Atlantic, Eurasia states
President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration is casting the OSCE’s decision to designate Kazakhstan as the 2010 chair of the 56-state organization as an endorsement of Astana’s economic and political policies…
RIA Novosti: Kazakhstan, Russia to increase bilateral trade by 25% in 2007
The Russian-Kazakh bilateral trade will hit a record $16 billion in 2007 against last year’s $13 billion, Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Monday…
Reuters: Severstal gets 81.1 pct acceptances for Celtic bid
Russian steel maker Severstal, which is expanding into gold, moved a step closer to acquiring Celtic Resources on Monday after winning acceptances for 81.1 percent of the shares in the miner…
Reuters: Kazakh bank BTA says deposit drain over
TuranAlem (BTA), Kazakhstan’s number two bank, said on Monday its customer deposits grew in November after declining between August and October…
Forbes: KazMunaiGas EP 9-mth profit jumps on higher output
KazMunaiGas Exploration Production, the Kazakh oil and gas producer, reported a 53 pct rise in net profit in the nine months to September, reflecting increased output mainly brought about by the acquisition of a 50 pct stake in Kazgermunai…
Reuters: Kazakh banks may be over worst of credit woes - EBRD
Kazakhstan’s banking sector could be over the worst of credit problems sparked by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, Erik Berglof, chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said on Monday…
Financial Times: Central Asia: $19bn plan provides new threads for Silk Road
About 150km north of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, workers were recently putting the final touches to a bridge that is part of a new stretch of road linking the country to Kyrgyzstan…
Xinhua: President: Kazakhstan to pursue plural foreign policy
The priority of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy has not changed, Nazarbayev said at a meeting with delegates of diplomatic missions in the Central Asian nation, according to the president’s official website…
Xinhua: Kazakhstan hopes for completion of talks on WTO membership early next year
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Monday that his country hopes to complete talks on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) early in 2008…
EnerPub: Production Sharing Agreements in Putin’s Russia
The dynamics of the Russian energy industry have changed in the past fifteen years. Under Putin, the government has reasserted its control by restricting private and foreign investment in strategic sectors, particularly energy…
News Roundup - December 10, 2007
International Herald Tribune: Kazakhstan seeks settlement on oil field delay
Kazakhstan wants either to raise its stake or receive compensation for cost overruns and delays in the Kashagan offshore field, the world’s largest oil find in more than three decades, the Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, said Friday…
Financial Times: Kazakh president upbeat on Kashagan settlement
Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, said yesterday he expected the Kashagan dispute to be settled amicably and that Eni of Italy would remain the operator of the foreign consortium developing the giant Caspian Sea oilfield…
Eurasia Daily Monitor: Nazarbayev hints at larger state share in Kashagan
According to Kazakh Energy Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov, delays in bringing the massive Caspian offshore Kashagan field online have pushed back the date for the first “early oil” from 2008 to 2010. Kashagan was originally scheduled to begin production in 2005…
Surprising no one, it is now obvious that “environmental concerns” were not at the heart of the Kashagan dispute, but rather about Kazakhstan’s burgeoning oil nationalism…
New Europe: Don’t mess with Texas: Exxon’s tough play in Kashagan
At the end of 2006, when Shell was effectively forced to yield majority control over the huge Russia’s Sakhalin II field to Gazprom, Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer stood up at the press conference and smiled through gritted teeth…
United Press International: Analysis: Kazakh oil and Western woes
The consolidation of the Kazakh energy industry proceeds apace, and what it eventually means for Western energy companies and investors is unclear…
Financial Times: ENRC set to complete London IPO
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, the Kazakhstan-based mining company, was poised last night to complete an initial public offering that will raise about £1.36bn, one of the biggest listings on the London Stock Exchange this year…
Reuters: Eurasian Natural Res - Successful completion of IPO
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC, a leading diversified natural resources group, today announces an offer price of 540 pence per share in respect of its Initial Public Offering of Ordinary Shares of US$0.20 to institutional investors, and that conditional trading in the Ordinary Shares will begin on the London Stock Exchange’s main market today…
Bloomberg: Eurasian Natural Resources shares advance in London
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. advanced 17 percent on its first day of trading after raising 1.36 billion pounds ($2.76 billion), the biggest initial public offering by a metals or mining company in London this year…
Interfax: Kazakhstan to begin feasibility study for NPP construction
A feasibility study will be launched on the construction of a nuclear power plant near Aktau, the administrative center of Kazakhstan’s Mangistauz region, after local delegates gave their consent to such a study during public hearings held in the city on Friday…
Forbes: ArcelorMittal to invest 600-700 mln usd in Kazakhstan
ArcelorMittal plans to invest 600-700 mln usd in expanding its production in Kazakhstan, a spokesman told Agence France-Presse…
TREND: Kazakhstan intends to further improve close relations with regions and OSCE countries
Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010 is a great success which is based on the development of the country, a permanent public attorney of Kazakhstan in Azerbaijan Arman Kaitbayov said…
The promised OSCE chairmanship is a major foreign political triumph for Kazakhstan and this opinion is shared by everyone in the republic including President Nursultan Nazarbayev himself…
Registan. net: Think about the OSCE
In 2010, history will be made: for the first time ever, a former SSR will become the chairman of the organization most recently known for monitoring elections (or not, in the case of Russia) than for doing anything involving security…
New York Times: Oil money flows, and city prospers
Infused with newly flowing oil money, Kazakhstan’s largest city is flush with nightclubs and exotic restaurants. The city’s main boulevards are lined with English-language signs; boutiques sell everything from Armani to gem-encrusted Vertu cellphones, and cafes serve the latest in overpriced coffee concoctions…
Forbes: JSC Alliance Bank 9-month net profit rises; downgrades FY profit forecast
JSC Alliance Bank has downgraded its net profit forecast for the full year, after it earlier reported an increase in profits for the nine months to the end of September 2007…
RIA Novosti: EBRD to invest about $1 bln in Kazakh economy next year
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest around $1 billion in Kazakhstan in 2008, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Friday…
International Herlad Tribune: Ukraine, Poland agree to reverse flow of key oil pipeline
The leaders of Ukraine and Poland agreed Friday to reverse the flow of a key oil pipeline in western Ukraine in mid-2008, a move to improve regional energy security and reduce dependence on Russian crude…
