Kazakhstan News Roundup - July 11, 2008

news roundup

Kazakhstan News Roundup - July 11, 2008

By SRI ⋅ July 11, 2008 ⋅

energy:

KazTransOil and Transneft to expand the Atyrau-Samara pipeline
(SRI) - Russian Transneft and Kazakh KazTransOil, the national pipeline operators, are in talks to expand the capacity of the Atyrau-Samara pipeline from current 16 to 26 million tons of oil per year.

mineral resources:

Orsu Metals Corp. completes first sale of copper-gold concentrate from the Varvarinskoye project, Kazakhstan (Marketwire - Quote.com)

business and economy:

Problem loans account for 20 percent of Kazakhstan’s banking portfolio, S&P claims
(SRI) - Standard & Poor’s international rating agency believes that the quality of Kazakh banks’ loan portfolio is worse than official statistics indicate.

Kazakh rail operator plans full upgrade of equipment by 2013
(SRI) - Kazakhstan Temir Zholy plans a complete renovation of its rolling stock as a part of a modernization program from 2009 to 2013, Askar Mamin, the president of the company said on Wednesday.

Samruk is the sole shareholder of Kazpost (SRI)

KASE becomes affiliated member of World Federation of Exchanges (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates July 11, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - July 10, 2008 (Reuters)

politics:

Kazakhstan: Any chance for democratization? (neweurasia.net)

society:

Steppe and lakes of Northern Kazakhstan added to UNESCO World Heritage List (Interfax)