Kazakhstan News Roundup - June 30, 2008

news roundup

Kazakhstan News Roundup - June 30, 2008

By SRI ⋅ June 30, 2008 ⋅

energy:

Lack of export insfrastructure hinders Kazakhstan’s bid to become oil power
(World Politics Review) - As oil production in the landlocked country increases in the years ahead, Kazakhstan could find itself without viable export routes to bring its hydrocarbon wealth to market.

Kashagan production delayed until 2013
(Silk Road Intelligencer) - Production at Kashagan, the giant Caspian field developed by a consortium of oil companies, will begin in October 2013. The Kazakh government and AgipKCO, the Eni-led consortium, signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect on Friday, announced KazMunaiGas, the Kazakh national oil company and a shareholder in the project.

Kazakhstan agrees to late Kashagan oilfield start (Reuters)

Fresh Kashagan oil delay sparks anger (Financial Times)

Caspian to restart oil production operations
(Oil and Gas Eurasia) - Caspian Holdings Plc, the oil and gas exploration Company with leases in Kazakhstan and the USA announces that it has received work programme approval for its Zhengeldy project in Kazakhstan from Zapkaznedra.

Fitch affirms KazTransGas at ‘BB’ and Intergas Central Asia at ‘BB+’
(Interfax) - Interfax-Kazakhstan - Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kazakhstan-based KazTransGas’s (KTG) ratings at Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default (IDR) ‘BB’ and Short-term foreign currency IDR ‘B’, the rating agency announced on Friday.

business and economy:

Kazakh Alliance Bank repaid $150 million loan
(Silk Road Intelligencer) - Alliance, Kazakhstan’s fourth largest bank, announced on Friday it had repaid a debut Eurobond worth $150 million.

Global liquidity crisis hits the Kazakh construction industry
(PMR Publications) - The financial turmoil on world markets which erupted mid-2007 has had a strong impact on the Kazakh construction market as its recent boom was largely financed with foreign loans.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ to open office in Kazakhstan (JCN Network)

Kazakh Government gives KZT 160 bln for small and medium business support (Kazinform)

Kazyna and Toyota Tsusho signed MoU (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates June 28-30, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - June 27, 2008
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s economic indicators based on data provided by the State Statistics Agency, government institutions, the central bank and exchanges.

politics:

Kazakh leader vows reform before taking OSCE chair
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s president promised the West on Sunday his country would pursue democratic change before its chairmanship of Europe’s main human rights watchdog in 2010.

What will Russia gain from Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship
(Eurasia Daily Monitor) - As Kazakhstan’s long-awaited term of chairmanship of the OSCE draws near, Astana is stepping up its multifaceted ties with the West, disregarding the painful reaction of the Kremlin to any westward movement in Central Asia.

Central Asia: Western democracies enable ‘petro-authoritarianism” - report
(EurasiaNet) - Driven by “petro-authoritarianism,” the countries of Central Asia are thoroughly throttling democratization, according to an annual survey conducted by the watchdog group Freedom House.

Transparency is key item of OSCE PA session in Astana (Itar-Tass)

Kazakhstan stands for transformation of the OSCE into a powerful organization: President (Kazinform)

Kazakhstan welcomes European experience in regional integration - Nazarbaev (Interfax)

society:

Credit woes mar Astana’s capital idea
(Financial Times) - Economic slowdown will not prevent Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, from hosting a party this week to mark the 10-year anniversary of Astana, the glittering capital he has built from almost nothing on the inhospitable central Asian steppe.

Kazakh model in apparent suicide plunge (Reuters)

Christie’s chair kicked off exhibition of Kazakh painters in Almaty (Interfax)