Kazakhstan Daily News Roundup - August 18, 2009

HEADLINES:

Polyus concludes offer for KazakhGold shares; appoints new KazakhGold head
(SRI) - Russian gold miner Polyus Gold has concluded its partial offer to acquire 50.1 percent of shares in Kazakhstan-focused KazakhGold for $269 million in cash and 0.064 of Polyus shares for each KazakhGold share.

ENRC reshuffle
(SRI) - Felix Vulis, currently the CEO of ENRC Kazakhstan, will be become the CEO of the ENRC holding group, effective on August 20. Johannes Sittard, the current CEO will move to become the non-executive chairman of the group.

Max Petroleum secures $80 million loan from Macquarie
(SRI) - Max Petroleum, a Kazakhstan-focused oil and gas junior, reached an agreement with Macquarie Bank for a $80 million loan to support its drilling program in Kazakhstan.

ENERGY:

Crude shipments to China up 23 percent in Jan-July
(SRI) - KazTransOil shipped 773,000 tons of crude oil to China via the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline in July. In the first seven months of 2009, the pipeline transported approximately 4 million tons of crude, a 23-percent increase compared to the same period in 2008.

MINERAL RESOURCES:

Alhambra to increase gold output after Kazakhstan court victory (Bloomberg)

Kazakhstan’s Jan-July copper output down 4.8 percent (Reuters)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Trade surplus falls 77 percent in H1 (SRI)

Kazakh stocks fall most in a month on copper, oil price drop (Bloomberg)

Fixed capital investment in Kazakhstan grows 7 percent in Jan-July (Interfax)

Foreign currency exchange rates by National Bank - August 18, 2009 (Kazakhstan Today)

Indicators - August 17, 2009 (Reuters)

SOCIETY:

Kazakh rights activist to be tried for traffic fatality (RFE/RL)

Kazakhstan Society Roundup - August 18, 2009

Kazakh rights activist to be tried for traffic fatality (RFE/RL)

Kazakhstan Business and Economy Roundup - August 18, 2009

Trade surplus falls 77 percent in H1 (SRI)

Kazakh stocks fall most in a month on copper, oil price drop (Bloomberg)

Fixed capital investment in Kazakhstan grows 7 percent in Jan-July (Interfax)

Foreign currency exchange rates by National Bank - August 18, 2009 (Kazakhstan Today)

Indicators - August 17, 2009 (Reuters)

Kazakhstan Energy Roundup - August 18, 2009

Max Petroleum secures $80 million loan from Macquarie (SRI)

Crude shipments to China up 23 percent in Jan-July (SRI)

Kazakhstan Mineral Resources Roundup - August 18, 2009

Polyus concludes offer for KazakhGold shares; appoints new KazakhGold head (SRI)

ENRC reshuffle (SRI)

Alhambra to increase gold output after Kazakhstan court victory (Bloomberg)

Kazakhstan’s Jan-July copper output down 4.8 percent (Reuters)

Polyus concludes offer for KazakhGold shares; appoints new KazakhGold head

(SRI) - Russian gold miner Polyus Gold has concluded its partial offer to acquire 50.1 percent of shares in Kazakhstan-focused KazakhGold for $269 million in cash and 0.064 of Polyus shares for each KazakhGold share.

(more…)

ENRC reshuffle

(SRI) - Felix Vulis, currently the CEO of ENRC Kazakhstan, will be become the CEO of the ENRC holding group, effective on August 20. Johannes Sittard, the current CEO will move to become the non-executive chairman of the group.

(more…)

Max Petroleum secures $80 million loan from Macquarie

(more…)

Crude shipments to China up 23 percent in January - July

(SRI) - KazTransOil shipped 773,000 tons of crude oil to China via the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline in July. In the first seven months of 2009, the pipeline transported approximately 4 million tons of crude, a 23-percent increase compared to the same period in 2008.

(more…)

Trade surplus falls 77 percent in H1

(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s trade surplus fell to $3.98 billion in the first half of this year from $17.94 billion in the same period last year, the state statistics agency said on Monday.

(more…)