News Roundup

News Roundup - May 16, 2008

By SRI ⋅ May 16, 2008 ⋅

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energy:

Power putsch

(Forbes) - After an armed seizure, years of criminal investigations and millions of dollars in suspicious fines, U.S. power company AES Corp. is retreating from Kazakhstan — the latest American victim of cronyism in poor, resource-rich nations.

KNOC acquires stake in Kazakhstan

(Oil and Gas Eurasia) - A South Korean consortium led by the state-owned Korea National Oil Corp. has signed a final contract to acquire a 27% stake in Kazakhstan’s offshore Zhambyl oil block for $85 million from a state-run company, KNOC said.

Arawak announces first quarter results (CNW Group)

Uranium One upbeat about Kazakhstan, but spends capex on Dominion woes (International Business News)

mineral resources:

Kazakhstan drafts robust development program for mining industry

(Interfax) - The Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Trade is drafting a comprehensive plan to make the mining industry of the country more efficient, Industry Minister Vladimir Shkolnik said at a Wednesday session of his agency in Astana.

Mechel signs $1.5 bln syndicated loan-banker

(Reuters) - Russia’s Mechel signed a $1.5 billion, 12-month bridge loan on Thursday that backs its acquisition of ferro-chrome producer Oriel Resources.

European Minerals pretax loss widens; good progress continues at Varvarinskoye (Thomson Financial/Forbes)

Alhambra to conduct a 750,000 tonne large scale semi-industrial test at Dombraly (CNW Group)

business and economy:

Kazakhstan GDP Q1 growth slows to 6.0 percent

(Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 6.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008, official data showed on Thursday, showing a significant slowdown but beating an earlier government estimate of 5.3 percent.

BTA Bank and Korea Export Insurance Corporation sealed a cooperation agreement (The FINANCIAL)

Kazakh developer unveils luxury project in Dubai’s The World (MENAFN - Khaleej Times)

Supreme Court reports rising number of mortgage debt claims (Interfax)

Almaty opened VI exhibition of Asian goods in Kazakhstan (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates May 16, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - May 15, 2008

(Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s economic indicators based on data provided by the State Statistics Agency, government institutions, the central bank and exchanges.

politics:

Medvedev kicks off Kazakhstan courtship

(EurasiaNet) - With Kazakhstan the choice for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s first official state visit, Russian and Kazakhstani officials are talking hard about plans to expand their governments’ partnership. However, the two former Soviet states are understood to remain divided over some divergent interests, notably oil transit, despite Russian claims to the contrary.

Was U.S. private security firm spying for Kazakh government? (Harper’s Magazine)

What Rakhat knows (Neweurasia.net)

Kazakhstan ratified international convention to suppress nuclear terrorism (Interfax)

Kazakhstan President received Mohammed bin Zayed (Kazinform)

Roundtable on political reforms in Kazakhstan started in Astana (Kazinform)

Senate Speaker met with Israeli President (Kazinform)

Majilis Vice Speaker met with Indonesian Foreign Minister (Kazinform)

society:

Kazakhstan: Monuments, economics, gender and media

(Global Voices) - The blogosphere of Kazakhstan was not too keen to discuss perturbations in the official government. The traditional May holidays have become a naturally most popular theme, however many other issues were also traced by the bloggers.

Kazakhstan expels Norwegian, Japanese for illegal missionary work (Interfax)

regional news:

Central Asian states stand for granting Aral Sea Rehabilitation Fund of UN Institute status (Kazinform)