News Roundup - March 4, 2008

Reuters: Kazakh Kazkommertsbank repays $450 mln loan

Kazkommertsbank, Kazakhstan’s No.1 bank, said on Monday it had repaid an outstanding $450 million of a syndicated loan of $850 million…

Penn Energy: Roxi Petroleum to acquire Kazakhstan assets

Roxi Petroleum PLC has announced that it will buy a 59% stake in Eragon Petroleum PLC, which owns three exploration and development assets in western Kazakhstan…

JoongAng Daily: A business sun rises in Kazakhstan

Local brokerage companies are flocking to Central Asia to take advantage of potentially lucrative investments amid rising raw material prices. Hyundai Securities said yesterday that it opened a regional office in Kazakhstan last Saturday…

Reuters: Russia’s Mechel considers bid for Oriel Resources

Russian miner and steel maker Mechel said on Monday it was considering making an offer for Oriel Resources, a London-listed miner with chrome assets in Russia and Kazakhstan…

Reuters: Kazakh bank Alliance changes chief executive

Alliance , Kazakhstan’s fourth-largest bank, announced a top management reshuffle on Monday following a strategy overhaul. Alliance’s board appointed Erik Sultankulov as its new chief executive, the bank said in a statement…

Reuters: Russia’s Troika Dialog buys Kazakh brokerage

Troika Dialog, Russia’s No.2 investment bank, plans to buy Kazakh brokerage Almex Asset Management which is partly owned by the Kazakh president’s daughter, the two companies said on Monday…

Asia Pulse: Kazakhstan pursues Pakistani investors

Kazakhstan is keen to expand bilateral trade with Pakistan said Yernur, First Secretary of Kazakhstan embassy in Islamabad during a meeting with members of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week…

Interfax: Kazakhstan to saturate domestic grain market before introducing duty

Kazakhstan is trying to determine how much grain it will take to saturate the domestic market before introducing export duties on the crop, Anna Buts, the director of the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry’s land agriculture and phytosanitary security department, told Interfax…

Trading Markets: Kazakhmys FY EBITDA steady as stronger copper prices offset lower output

Kazakhmys PLC is expected to post steady full-year results on Thursday as stronger copper prices are offset by higher costs and weaker production…

Eurasia Daily Monitor: Nazarbayev watches for signs of Medvedev’s leadership style

Speaking in Moscow at the informal February Commonwealth of Independent States summit, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev praised his country’s relations with Russia, pointing to bilateral action plans signed in 2006-07 that prioritized shared concerns…

Gazeta.KZ: Ukraine president is expected in Kazakhstan

The official visit of the president of Ukraine, Victor Yushenko, to Kazakhstan will take place on March 5 – 6, informed on a briefing the RK MFA Official Representative, Erzhan Ashykbayev…

Gazeta.KZ: Nazarbayev congratulated Medvedev with presidential elections victory

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, sent his greetings to Dmitry Medvedev because of his victory on the elections for the President of Russian Federation, reported the RK President Press Service…

Ferghana.ru: Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov to visit USA

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov is expected in the United States on March 9-12, Kazinform has learnt from the Kazakh MFA’s press service…

Interfax: Living wage in Kazakhstan up 7.3% in the year to February – Statistics Agency

The living wage in Kazakhstan made 11,557 tenge in February 2008. This is 2.3% up compared to January and 7.3% more year-to-date, the National Statistics Agency reported on Monday…

Kazinform: Foreign investors interested in Kazakh real estate market

A two-day international forum “Investments into Kazakhstan’s real property” has started its work today in Almaty to raise investment attractiveness of the country’s real estate market, and boost construction industry…

Neweurasia.net: Statistical truth

Often our officials speak outloud about the leadership of Kazakhstan among all CIS countries. Well, yes, we are not outsiders. However, not the leaders for several years already…

TREND: Kellogg Brown & Root to prepare feasibility study for trans-Caspian oil and gas pipeline

The US Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) won the bid of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) on preparation of the feasibility study for Trans-Caspian Oil and Gas Pipeline, the SOCAR reported on 29 February…

The Oil and the Glory: The Why’s of Pipeline Politics

One thing highly unlikely to change under Dmitri Medvedev is Moscow’s hard-line energy policy. Indeed, one sometimes gets the impression that Russia wants the West to build pipelines that go around it…