Archive for July 7th, 2008
Kazakhstan Energy Roundup - July 7, 2008
Kazakhstan eyes Oman’s CPC stake-industry official
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan is interested in buying Oman’s 7 percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) should the Middle Eastern state decide to sell out, an influential oil industry group official said on Friday.
Asian Gas Pipeline to raise at least $6 billion by September 2008
(SRI) - Asia Gas Pipeline, the operator of the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline, plans to raise at least $6 billion in loans by this summer, Interfax reported.
StatoilHydro rejects Kazakh bribe lawsuit
(Reuters) - Norwegian oil and gas producer StatoilHydro rejected accusations, made in a U.S. lawsuit, that it had bribed officials in Kazakhstan.
KazMunaiGas $2.5 bln loan oversubscribed
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan oil and gas company KazMunaiGas’s unsecured $2.5 billion, three-year syndicated loan is oversubscribed ahead of closing.
Far-reaching goals set for Russian-Kazakh gas plant (RosBusinessConsulting)
Kazakhstan to halve corporate tax rate
Kazakhstan may halve the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent while introducing a tax of up to 20 percent that will apply only to the oil and mining sectors, Askar Aubakirov, a member of the working group that is developing the new tax code, said on Friday.
Asian Gas Pipeline to raise at least $6 billion by September 2008
(SRI) - Asia Gas Pipeline, the operator of the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline, plans to raise at least $6 billion in loans by this summer, Interfax reported.
Financier not worried about asset quality but concerned with interest rates
Chairman of the Association of Financial Professionals in Kazakhstan, Serik Akhanov, says the situation in Kazakhstan’s banking sector is under control.
“The current state of second-tier banks in Kazakhstan in terms of assets and loan portfolio is stable enough,” he said in an interview with.
High interest rates that banks offer to borrowers, however, are more of a cause for concern.
“The main concern is that loan interests are above 18 percent.” He attributed this to rampant inflation of more than 19 percent for the past year.
Akhanov said that the Kazyna Development Fund and the second-tier banks agreed to lower the interest rates under the auspices of the government and the National Bank to an average rate of 12 percent. He believes this agreement will help small and medium-sized enterprises, which, in turn, will increase their borrowings.
Earlier, chairperson of the Financial Supervision Agency (FSA) of Kazakhstan Yelena Bakhmutova claimed that the main concern for the economy was the quality of assets and loan portfolio, and not liquidity.
