Kazakhstan Daily News Roundup - October 3, 2008

ENERGY:

KazMunaiGas repays USD 1 billion loan early
(SRI) - Kazakh national oil company KazMunaiGas (KMG) said on Thursday that its subsidiary KMG Kashagan B.V. has paid off a USD 1 billion syndicated loan ahead of time to help restructure its sizable debt.

BP set to leave Kazakhstan
(SRI) - BP is in the progress of leaving Kazakhstan and and looks to sell its stakes in the country’s oil industry.

CPC exports down in the first nine months of 2008 (SRI)

Kazakh oil pipeline operator KazTransOil BB+ rating affirmed; outlook stable
(S&P - Cbonds) - The rating on KTO reflects the high strategic importance of the company’s operations to its parent company, JSC NC KazMunayGas (BBB-/Negative/–) and the Republic of Kazakhstan (BBB-/Negative/A-3).

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Distress Asset Fund to start operating this year
(Interfax) - Kazakhstan government earlier planned to raise $5 bl on investment market for the Stress Assets Fund and allocate 1 bl from the budget.

Bank Caspian changes name to Kaspi Bank (SRI)

Iran, Kazakhstan to boost bilateral trade (Kazinform)

Almaty to host Kazakh-Swiss business forum (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates October 3, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - October 2, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

OSCE content with Kazakh reforms in the mass media laws, Kazakh embassy in Poland (Interfax)

Kazakh public figures call prosecution of opposition members “political cleansing” (Interfax)

PACE holds roundtable on CA, Caspian regions’ security (Kazinform)

Kazakhstan Politics Roundup - October 3, 2008

OSCE content with Kazakh reforms in the mass media laws, Kazakh embassy in Poland (Interfax)

Kazakh public figures call prosecution of opposition members “political cleansing” (Interfax)

PACE holds roundtable on CA, Caspian regions’ security (Kazinform)

Kazakhstan Business and Economy Roundup - October 3, 2008

Distress Asset Fund to start operating this year
(Interfax) - Kazakhstan government earlier planned to raise $5 bl on investment market for the Stress Assets Fund and allocate 1 bl from the budget.

Bank Caspian changes name to Kaspi Bank (SRI)

Iran, Kazakhstan to boost bilateral trade (Kazinform)

Almaty to host Kazakh-Swiss business forum (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates October 3, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - October 2, 2008 (Reuters)

Kazakhstan Energy Roundup - October 3, 2008

KazMunaiGas repays USD 1 billion loan early
(SRI) - Kazakh national oil company KazMunaiGas (KMG) said on Thursday that its subsidiary KMG Kashagan B.V. has paid off a USD 1 billion syndicated loan ahead of time to help restructure its sizable debt.

BP set to leave Kazakhstan
(SRI) - BP is in the progress of leaving Kazakhstan and and looks to sell its stakes in the country’s oil industry.

CPC exports down in the first nine months of 2008 (SRI)

Kazakh oil pipeline operator KazTransOil BB+ rating affirmed; outlook stable
(S&P - Cbonds) - The rating on KTO reflects the high strategic importance of the company’s operations to its parent company, JSC NC KazMunayGas (BBB-/Negative/–) and the Republic of Kazakhstan (BBB-/Negative/A-3).

KazMunaiGas repays USD 1 billion loan early

(SRI) - Kazakh national oil company KazMunaiGas (KMG) said on Thursday that its subsidiary KMG Kashagan B.V. has paid off a USD 1 billion syndicated loan ahead of time to help restructure its sizable debt.

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Bank Caspian changes name to Kaspi Bank

(SRI) - Bank Caspian, Kazakhstan’s 8th largest bank, will change its name to Kaspi Bank by the end of this year, the bank said in a statement issues.

The decision was made at a shareholder meeting on September 26.

CPC exports down in the first nine months of 2008

(SRI) - The CPC pipeline transported 22.9 million tons of crude oil in the first nine months of the year from Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. This is 6.8 percent decrease compared to the same period last year (24.6 million tons).

In September, the exports were 2.37 million tons of crude, compared to 2.48 million tons in September of 2007.

In the entire year of 2007, 33.6 million of tons of crude were transported via the CPC pipeline.