News Roundup

News Roundup - June 12, 2008

By SRI ⋅ June 12, 2008 ⋅

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energy:

Areva, Kazatomprom to set up uranium, fuel JVs

(Reuters) - French state-owned nuclear group Areva and Kazakh uranium miner Kazatomprom agreed on Wednesday to boost joint uranium output and set up a nuclear fuel assembly line.

Alstom signs transport, energy agreement with Kazakhstan state-owned company

(Thomson Financial/Forbes) - Alstom has signed an agreement ‘concerning several projects in the fields of rail transport and electricity generation’ with Kazakhstan state-owned holding company Samruk.

Uranium One says new acid plant will ease shortage

(Reuters) - Uranium One said on Wednesday that new sulphuric acid production from a plant near Balkhash, Kazakhstan, should relieve the uranium miner’s acid shortage in the short-term.

Zhaikmunai makes 6 discoveries in Chinarevskoye license in Kazakhstan (Thomson Financial/Forbes)

Caspian Energy says initial Baktygaryn 703 drill test did not find hydrocarbons (Thomson Financial/Hemscott)

International conference on Kazakhstan’s nuclear power opened in Kurchatov (Kazinform)

mineral resources:

Kazakh government seeks Kazakhmys board seat

(Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s government will seek a seat on the board of copper miner Kazakhmys after accumulating a 15 percent stake in the world’s No. 10 producer of the metal, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Kazakh miner ENRC against Kazakhmys board seat (Reuters/Guardian)

Eurasian Natural Resources says commodity price increases benefit Q2 revenues

(Thomson Financial/Forbes) - Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. Plc. said significant price increases will feed through to benefit its ferroalloys and iron ore revenues in the second quarter, adding it has a new revenue stream from the aluminium smelter, which is expected to generate sales of about 100,000 tonnes in 2008.

ArcelorMittal to spend $5bn on Kazakh plant

(Financial Times) - ArcelorMittal is spending $5bn to double the output of its plant in Kazakhstan in a further expression of confidence by the world’s biggest steelmaker in the likelihood of robust economic growth outside the main developed regions.

business and economy:

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates June 12, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - June 11, 2008

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

politics:

Kazakhstan, China negotiate security cooperation (Kazinform)

N. Nazarbayev, N. Sarkozy signed Strategic Treaty (Kazinform)

N. Nazarbayev met with ex-President of France J. Chirac (Kazinform)

Kazakh Leader’s visit to France continues (Kazinform)

society:

Kazakh lawmakers present bill to increase state control over faith groups

(AP/Yahoo! News) - Kazakhstan’s parliament tentatively approved a bill Wednesday intended to increase government control over the activities of religious associations.

Kazakhstan to have its first gay parade (Interfax)

A festival of French and Kazakh films to be held in Astana (Interfax)

Astana authorities relocating monument to victims of political repression (Interfax)

regional news:

Caspian energy game heats up

(CACI Analyst) - Last month, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov became the first Turkmen president to visit Azerbaijan since his deceased predecessor, Saparmurad Niyazov, traveled there in 1996. Any reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan would be doubly important from the perspective of world energy markets.