News Roundup

News Roundup - May 30, 2008

By SRI ⋅ May 30, 2008 ⋅

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energy:

Kazakhstan replaces state oil company boss

(Reuters) - Kazakhstan has replaced the chief executive at the state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said on Thursday.

New head of KazMunaiGas appointed (Interfax)

KazMunaiGas deputy CEO resigns (Reuters)

KazMunaiGas E&P to increase 2007 dividend by 12.6 pct

(Reuters) - London-listed Kazakh oil producer KazMunaiGas Exploration and Production (KMG E&P)will pay about $346 million in dividends for 2007.

Kazakhstan enacts oil transportation agt with Azerbaijan through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline system (Itar-Tass)

Russian company opens huge field in North Caspian

(Oil and Gas Eurasia) - The Caspian oil and gas field discovered jointly by Russia’s Gazprom and Lukoil could hold more than 100 million metric tons, or around 730 million barrels, of oil, a person familiar with the matter.

Export more, gain more

(neweurasia.net) - The Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan has declared that the government will review its newly introduced export fee for oil exports to cancel all prerogatives.

Transmeridian Exploration receives notice of failure to satisfy AMEX continued listing standards (Prime Newswire/Yahoo! Finance)

business and economy:

France’s Vicat to build cement plant in Kazakhstan

(Reuters) - French cement maker Vicat and Kazakh group Kazkommerts Invest will build a cement plant in the Central Asian state at an estimated cost of $230 million, Kazkommerts Invest said on Thursday.

PIK extends reach to Kazakhstan

(Property Week) - London and Moscow listed PIK, which has a market capitalization of $14bn (£7bn), announced today it would move its mass-housing development programme into Kazakhstan.

Da Vinci fund first to list on London’s SFM

(Hedge Funds Review) - Da Vinci Capital Management is an independent investment management company focusing on alternative investment, private equity and structured products in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Central Asia.

Abu Dhabi to participate in International Investment Forum in Kazakhstan (MENAFN)

240 bl tenge required annually to develop motor-roads in Kazakhstan – Minister (Interfax)

Intel CEO to visit Kazakhstan (Kazinform)

Kazakh Audit Committee, Kuwait State Audit Bureau signed memo of coop (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates May 30, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - May 29, 2008

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

politics:

Medvedev, in energy diplomacy, moves early to consolidate ties with Kazakhstan

(CACI Analyst) - The two sides remained divided on several important energy questions that could dominate the agenda of future meetings of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but geography and economic interdependencies seem destined to keep the two countries close collaborators regardless of the leadership transition in the Kremlin.

OSCE Centre supports Kazakhstan to improve migration governance

(Turkish Weekly/UzReport.com) - How to improve labour migration management and policies in Kazakhstan as a destination country for migrants is the focus of a two-day international conference organized by the OSCE Centre that started in Almaty on 29 May.

Part of Kazakh opposition want to form a people’s parliament

(Interfax) - The Kazakh Opposition Nation-Wide Social-and-Democratic Party (OSDP) has announced an initiative to organize a people’s parliament, Halyk Kenesi.

Central Election Commission holds seminar in Aktau (Kazinfrom)

society:

Kazakhstan comedy Tulpan has universal appeal

(Hollywood Reporter) - Polished, funny and utterly charming, Kazakhstan director Sergey Dvortsevoy’s debut feature, “Tulpan,” won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival.

regional news:

Beijing flexes economic muscle across region

(RFE/Rl/EurasiaNet) - China, with billions of dollars invested in Central Asian resources, is making deals that regional leaders find hard to turn down. Beijing, indeed, has a clear strategy for Central Asia — and it’s working.

Azerbaijan sees positive sign for energy partnership with Turkmenistan

(EurasiaNet) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has recently stepped up his ongoing campaign to promote Azerbaijan as the key to Europe’s energy security at a recent energy summit in Kyiv. But this is a role in which Baku needs a supporting actor. Azerbaijani experts believe that the Aliyev administration now has agreements with Turkmenistan to play that part.

The SCO and foreign powers in Central Asia: Sino-Russian differences

(CACI Analyst) - As the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) regional role has been increasing in past few years, the differences and ambitions among its member states are becoming more evident as well.