Archive for February 6th, 2008
News Roundup - February 6, 2008
CNN Money: AES to sell Kazakhstan plant and mine
Electric power company AES Corp. (NYSE:AES) said Tuesday it agreed to sell its interests in a power plant and coal mine in Kazakhstan to London-based copper producer Kazakhmys PLC for up to $1.48 billion…
CNN Money: Kazakhmys raises 2.1 bln usd in debt finance; to buy Ekibastuz plant
Kazakhmys PLC said it raised 2.1 bln usd in debt financing and will use part of the facility to buy the Ekibastuz power plant — the biggest in Kazakhstan — and the remainder for general corporate purposes…
Reuters: Kazakhmys pays $1.5 bln for power plant, coal field
Kazakhmys Plc will pay $1.5 billion to acquire the biggest power plant in Kazakhstan as well as a nearby coal field, the copper company said on Tuesday…
Financial Times: Kazakhmys buys Kazakh power plant
Kazakhmys on Tuesday announced a move into the power supply market with the $1.5bn acquisition of a power plant and captive coal mine in Kazakhstan from AES, the US power group…
Forbes: Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank receives license to operate in Georgia
JSC Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan said its Halyk Bank Georgia subsidiary has received a licence to carry out banking operations in the former Soviet republic…
Forbes: MGFK ratings off negative watch; affirmed at ‘BB/kzA+’; outlook stable - S&P
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it has removed ratings on Mortgage Guarantee Fund of Kazakhstan (MGFK) from CreditWatch with negative implications…
Reuters: Kazakh Kazkommertsbank mulls $300 mln Eurobond
Kazkommertsbank, Kazakhstan’s biggest bank, is considering issuing $300 million in Eurobonds in the second half of this year, a bank official said on Tuesday…
Reuters: Kazakh bank Halyk looks east for borrowing
Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank plans to issue bonds in Japan or South Korea this year as it looks for new markets to borrow internationally, its chief executive said on Tuesday…
Interfax: Halyk Bank could issue bonds on Asian markets in 2008
Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank is looking into the possibility of raising Islamic financing and placing bonds on Asian markets in 2008, said Grigory Marchenko, the chairman of the bank’s managing board, at a press conference in Almaty on Tuesday…
Neweurasia.net: New head of administration
Recently the Kazakhstan president has made some reshuffling in the state apparatus. The most notable and politically significant among them was - according to a shared opinion of observers - appointment of Kairat Kelimbetov to the post of head of the presidential administration…
ShareCast: Share plunge stuns Roxi
Oil and gas explorer Roxi Petroleum was left bemused by a slump in it share price Tuesday less than a week after the shares resumed trading on AIM following a large acquisition…
Rigzone: KazMunaiGas increases reserves by 18%
JSC KazMunaiGas Exploration Production announced the results of an Assessment of Oil and Gas Reserves and Resources, as at Dec. 31, 2007. In accordance with the report of the independent energy consulting firm Gaffney, Cline & Associates, Proved plus Probable (2P) reserves were 240.0 million tonnes (1,767 million barrels), excluding KMG EP’s interests in Kazgermunai and CCEL (Karazhanbasmunai)…
Kazinform: No banking crisis exists in principle, Halyk Bank CEO
“The year of 2007 proved to be the good year for the Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan for its key figures showcased record growth,” well-known financier, president of Halyk Bank Grigory Marchenko told…
marketwire: Tethys Petroleum Limited: Winter weather update
Tethys Petroleum Limited today updated shareholders on the effects of the recent extreme weather in China, Tajikistan and Central Asia…
Forum 18: How threatening are President Nazarbayev’s comments?
Kazakh officials have played down to Forum 18 News Service the significance of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s recent call to “suppress the activity of illegal religious movements.” He also claimed that “tens of thousands of different missionary organisations work in Kazakhstan…
Interfax: Activists of banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization convicted in Kazakhstan
A court in the town of Zhanaozena, Mangistau region, western Kazakhstan, sentenced to various terms in prison seven active members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist radical organization banned in the country…
UPI: Analysis: Europe’s pipeline war
The European Union and Russia are battling over the future of a pipeline aimed at diversifying Europe’s energy imports. The so-called Nabucco pipeline, first planned in 2004, would transport natural gas to Austria from the Caspian region via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary…
Eurasia Insight: Rights group assails Western willingness to abet Central Asia’s authoritarians
Human Rights Watch, in its 2008 World Report, lambasted authoritarian regimes for using the trappings of democracy to hide flaws in governance. The report also took a swipe at the world’s established democracies, saying that their approval of sham democratization practices for reasons of political expedience had undermined global human rights standards…
TREND: Ukraine may suffer Kazakhstan’s decision to increase transit tariffs for Russia
The large Russian gas monopolist Gazprom may increase gas prices for Ukraine in order to compensate for losses resulting from Kazakhstan’s decision to increase tariffs for the transit of Middle Asian gas…
TREND: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan to discuss Caspian Sea’s status
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan’s governmental working groups on determination of the Caspian Sea’s status will hold consultations in Baku on 6-10 February…
On January 25, the prime ministers of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed nine trade agreements. These addressed export customs duties, unified customs and tariff regulations, unified rules to determine the countries of origin of goods, unified measures of non-tariff regulation…
Kommersant: Islam Karimov gets the pipes ready for a fight
Uzbek President Islam Karimov arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to hold gas talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Kommersant sources report that like his neighbors Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan is going to ask higher prices for its gas and increase transit fees for Turkmen gas…
