KMG EP more than doubles its earnings in January through September
(SRI) - For the first nine months of 2008, KazMunaiGas Exploration Production (KMG EP), the LSE-listed subsidiary of the national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas, reported net profits of KZT 218.5 billion (USD 1.816 billion), up 111 percent compared to the same period in 2007.

First tanker with Tengiz crude loaded in Batumi
(SRI) - Batumi Oil Terminal in the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi, run by KazTransOil, has loaded a tanker with Tengiz oil, Interfax reported on Thursday.

Roxi Petroleum provides update on Kazakhstan operations (OilVoice)

Ukrainian Energoatom and Kazakh Kazatomprom mull cooperation (SRI)

Kazakhstan, USA establish joint venture in oil-and-gas sector (Kazinform)

MINERAL RESOURCES:

Kazakhmys appoints Yergozhin non-executive director
(Dow Jones - Morningstar) - Kazakhmys Thursday announces the appointment of Daulet Yergozhin, the Chairman of the Tax Committee of the Ministry of Finance, to the Board as a non-executive director with effect from November 19.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Kazah government funding puts better light on gloomy banking sector
(bne) The global economic crisis is already slowing growth in Kazakhstan and, together with the shutdown in international financial markets, this makes for gloomy prospects for the banking sector in 2009. For the next few months at least, the main source of optimism is the government’s injection of $5bn into the sector.

Kazakhs earmark $21 bln to combat crisis - PM
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan plans to inject $21 billion into its economy to counter the impact of the global financial crisis and expects growth will be a lot slower next year, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said.

Banking havoc drives builders out of business
(TOL) - Why Central Asia’s biggest economy was hit early and hard by the credit crunch.

Kazakh pension system not ensure pension guarantee to its participants (Kazakhstan Today)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 21, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 20, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Kazakhstan can help resolve Ossetia feud - PM
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan, a former Soviet state with good ties to Russia and Georgia, believes it can help resolve the future of the rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said.

Kazakhstan may give more support to NATO operations in Afghanistan
(Interfax) - Kazakhstan is considering the possibility of scaling up its support of NATO-led peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, Kazakh State Secretary Kanat Saudabaev said.

Zhaksylyk Doskaliyev appointed Minister of Health of Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan Today)

Anyone should be allowed to be involved in developing the anti-crisis program – Adilet Party (Interfax)

SOCIETY:

Kazakhstan: Political economy and blocked blogs (Global Voices)

Imperial Energy drops Kazakh license to focus on Russia
(SRI) - Imperial Energy, a British oil company operating in West Siberia and Kazakhstan, relinquished its Kazakh license to concentrate on Russian interests.

While South Africa falters Uranium One says ops in Kazakhstan will lead to dividends
(Mineweb) - CEO Jean Nortier says there are no issues in Kazakhstan that could hinder the payment of dividends although the company is dealing with limited sulphuric acid supply in the country which is currntly affecting production levels.

S&P: KazMunaiGas EP corporate governance score raised to CGS-6 (Cbonds.info)

Tethys Petroleum announces third quarter results (Market Wire - Fox Business)

Arawak announces third quarter results (CNW - Fox Business)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Sturgeon Fund: Fishing for returns around the Caspian
(bne) - Clemente Cappello doesn’t mind when Azeris laugh at the name of his fund. The Sturgeon Fund was named after the fish that is an emblem of the Caspian region, where the fund is focused. The sturgeon’s production of valuable caviar is a metaphor for the fund’s strategy of extracting value from the region.

IMF: Kazakh economy on the right path
(AP) - A senior International Monetary Fund official has praised Kazakhstan, an early victim of the global credit crunch, for its handling of the crisis.

Kazakhstan’s cotton harvest fails to provide rich pickings
(EurasiaNet) - As the end of the harvest approaches, Kazakhstan expects the crop to be three quarters of last year’s, due to unfavorable weather and a crop replacement policy that was instituted to address the water issue.

South Korea’s Hyundai wins $300 mln Kazakh deal (Reuters)

Global financial crisis is leading to deep recession of the international economic system – Nazarbaev (Interfax)

USD 30 bln for Kazakhstan transport infrastructure development: Ministry of Transport (Kazinform)

Iran, Kazakhstan set up Business Council (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 19, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 19, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Kazakh government prepares to impose elements of democracy
(RFE/RL) - Astana has pledged to improve its record on rights and democratic reforms. That process started on November 11 and promises to be a very curious ordeal.

Kazakhstan to deepen ties with United States
(AP - IHT) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev says he discussed regional security and energy issues with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama in a telephone conversation late Tuesday.

President outlines priorities for Foreign Ministry in the years to come (Interfax)

REGIONAL:

Caspian energy powers split at anti-Russian summit
(Reuters) - Caspian Sea energy nations showed this week they remain close to Moscow’s sphere of influence as some key producers declined to sign a declaration calling for a limit on Russian monopoly over export routes to the West.

Will Russian woes spread to Central Asia?

(TOL - BusinessWeek) - Ordinary Russians are feeling the sting of a slowing economy, and republics such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan may be next.

Is Astana losing leverage with foreign energy conglomerates?
(EurasiaNet) - The trouble on Kazakhstan’s energy sector is related mostly to the global economic crisis but a backlash factor also may be at work, in which international energy companies start to push back against the hardball tactics that Kazakhstani leaders have been employing in recent months.

Development of Kashagan field will proceed as planned
(EurasiaNet) - Development of the Kashagan oil field in north-western Kazakhstan will go ahead as planned, despite the ongoing global financial crisis, the US ambassador to Kazakhstan, Richard Hoagland, has announced.

Kazakhstan wants to buy 3 pct of CPC from Russia
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan wants to buy from Russia roughly half of the seven percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) that Moscow has acquired from Oman.

Kazakhstan to participate in Baku energy security summit (Kazinform)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Kazakhstan challenged by the world financial crisis
(CACI Analyst) - In summer 2007, the American subprime crisis had an impact on the Kazakhstani real estate market, and then, in 2008, on its entire banking sector, which after Russia’s is the most developed in the CIS.

ADB to help Kazakhstan revive Silk Road, boost trade
(Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank will offer $700 million to Kazakhstan help improve parts of the ancient Silk Road and bolster trade between Asia and Europe.

Kazakhstan’s “New Silk Road” (The Economist)

Kazakh government embarks on drafting 2020 development program (Interfax)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 14, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 13, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Court finds KTZh ex-chief Kulekeev not guilty of bribery but sentences him to three years in prison for other offences (Interfax)

Kazakh newspaper spots overlap between Russian president’s speech and a year ago speech of Kazakh Defense Minister (Interfax)

REGIONAL:

Towards a water regime in the Syr Darya basin
(CACI Analyst) - In the coming years the countries of the Syr Darya basin (including upstream Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and downstream Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) face the task of finding a common water regime in order to tackle growing energy and water demands as well as avert future crises of poor inter-state coordination of water resources.

Caspian Energy Inc. appoints new director (MarketWatch)

MINERAL RESOURCES:

ENRC cuts its expansion plans
(Financial Times) - London-listed Eurasian Natural Resources yesterday joined the growing number of mining companies cutting output and slashing expansion plans in response to the slowing world economy.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Astana working out details on economic stabilization plan
(EurasiaNet) - Kazakhstan expects to put the final touches on its fiscal stabilization plan by November 25. One of the government’s top priorities is shoring up the country’s wobbly banking sector.

Kazakhstan frees up $3 bln for cash-strapped banks
Kazakhstan will free up about $3 billion for its cash-strapped banks by cutting minimum reserve requirements to combat the global credit crunch.

Kazakhstan industrial output grows in October
(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s statistical agency reported on Wednesday that industrial output increased 4.6 percent month-on-month in October.

International reserves declined: Kazakh National Bank (Kazinform)

Fitch comments on downgrading Kazkommertsbank’s ratings (Interfax)

Fitch rationale on downgrade on Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank (Cbonds.info)

Fitch rationale on downgrade of Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank (Cbonds.info)

Kazakhstan increased grain exports (AgriMarket.Info)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 13, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 12, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Abilov says the case against opposition falling to pieces
(Interfax) - The so-called “case against the opposition for harboring criminals” launched by the Ministry of Interior Affairs is falling to parts, Azat party leader Bular Abilov said.

REGIONAL:

Central Asia may be key to gas cost deal
(The Moscow Times) - With oil trading below $60 per barrel, eyes are turning to see what will happen to gas export prices as Gazprom begins the now-annual ritual of haggling with its customers to the West ahead of the winter heating season.

Kazakhstan set to slash oil export duty
(AP) - Energy-rich Kazakhstan could cut crude oil export tariffs by one-third in an effort to ease the burden on domestic producers, Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said Monday.

Astana pursues nuclear energy deal with India
(EurasiaNet) - Uranium from Kazakhstan will soon be powering Indian nuclear plants, the Kazakh ambassador to India revealed in a newspaper interview.

Fitch downgrades energy and railway companies
(Fitch) - Fitch Ratings has today downgraded the Long-term foreign currency ratings of three Kazakh energy companies and a railway group.

Fitch takes rating actions on Kazakh corporates on sovereign downgrade (Interfax)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Kazakhstan battles crisis with bailout, reforms
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan agreed an at least $3.47-billion bailout package on Tuesday to help banks cope with a deepening economic crisis and ease public concern, and announced political reforms to head off opposition criticism.

Kazakh govt, banks agree $3.47 bln bailout package (Reuters)

Kazakh banks agree $3.4bn bail-out (Financial Times)

Fitch downgrades seven Kazakh financial institutions
(Interfax) - Fitch Ratings has downgraded the long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of seven Kazakh financial institutions: BTA Bank, Kazkommertsbank, Halyk Bank, ATF Bank, Development Bank of Kazakhstan, Astana Finance and KazAgroFinance.

Fitch revises Kazakh city of Astana’s LTFC outlook to negative (Morningstar)

Investors dig in for a tough year in Kazakhstan
(Reuters) - Western investors working in Kazakhstan are betting on business confidence to improve next year as they seek to withstand a deepening world financial crisis.

Kazakhstan expects 2008 current account surplus
(Reuters - Forbes) - Kazakhstan recorded a current account surplus of $10 billion in the first nine months of the year and expects to achieve a surplus for the whole of 2008, Central bank chairman Anvar Saidenov said.

SamrukKazyna to negotiate investment in Montenegro economy: Kazakh PM (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 12, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 11, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Kazakhs seek to improve election law
(AP - IHT) - Kazakhstan’s government backed changes to electoral laws Tuesday to ensure that more than one party is represented in parliament, a move aimed at bolstering its democratic credentials.

Kazakh-US bilateral relations to be discussed (Kazinform)

SOCIETY:

Kazakh comedy Tulpan wins Asia-Pacific best movie award
(Reuters) - A Kazakh comedy about a family coping with the harsh life of sheep and goat herding on a barren landscape took top honors at the second annual Asia-Pacific Screen Awards on Tuesday.

REGIONAL:

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan confront a financial disaster
(EurasiaNet) - A financial catastrophe is looming for Central Asia’s poorest countries, as migrant workers in the once booming powerhouses of Russia and Kazakhstan are having increasing trouble finding work, and are thus unable to send cash back to loved ones in impoverished Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Kazatomprom revises projected output for 2008 and 2009
(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s national nuclear company, Kazatomprom, has lowered its uranium production plans for 2008-2009, Interfax reported on Friday.

Kazatomprom to help build nuclear plants in China
(Interfax - iStockAnalyst) - Kazakhstan’s national nuclear corporation, Kazatomprom, will be involved in the construction of new nuclear power plants in China, Kazatomprom chief Mukhtar Dzhakishev said.

The creation of a new operating company rules out operatorship in Kashagan
(New Europe) - Interview with Maksat Idenov, KazMunaiGaz First Vice-President.

Gazprom opens representative office in Kazakhstan (SRI)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Troika Dialog makes strategic move into Kazakhstan
(bne) - Troika Dialog completed its acquisition of Almaty-based Almex Asset Management just weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers plunged international financial markets into freefall.

State support helps ease pressure on Kazakh banks’ credit ratings
(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s plan to inject liquidity into some of the country’s largest banks may help the banks avoid further credit cuts.

Fitch downgrades Kazakhstan’s sovereign rating as global slowdown spreads
(Bloomberg) - Bulgaria, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Romania had their sovereign ratings cut as part of a review of 17 emerging-market economies, Fitch said in a statement today.

Kazakhstan may cut 2009 budget
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan may have to cut its budget expenditure next year if oil prices fall further and impose capital controls if it sees significant capital flight, a source in the government said on Friday.

Kazakh gold, forex reserves fall 4.2 percent to USD 21.02 billion in October (Dow Jones - FXStreet)

Kazakhstan, EU sign Protocol to bilateral textiles agreements (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 8-10, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 7, 2008 (Reuters)

SOCIETY:

Situation in health care system is very bad due to poor management – president
(Interfax) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev criticized the situation in the health care sector of the republic.

Kazakh leader ‘secretly owns’ £50m home (Times Online)

REGIONAL NEWS:

EU fights for Nabucco’s future
(EurasiaNet) - The fate of the Nabucco pipeline project appears to be hanging by a thread. No EU official would publicly admit this, but the signs tell their own story.

Russia buys Oman’s share in CPC
(SRI) - The Russian government bought Oman’s 7-percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium increasing its share to 31 percent, according to Russian and Kazakh media.

Oil developmen in Kazakhstan underscores significance of Azerbaijan - Georgia transit corridor (Eurasian Daily Monitor)

Baku-Supsa line reopens, BTC ships Kazakh oil (Oil and Gas Journal)

Kazakhstan to host conference on oil products market (RBC News)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Azia Avto to ramp up production by 2010
(SRI) - Azia Avto, Kazakh car manufacturer, will significantly ramp up its annual production, from 20 thousand to 120 thousand cars by the end of 2010.

BTA Bank to increase stake in Belarusian subsidiary
(SRI) - BTA, Kazakhstan’s number one bank, said on Tuesday that it planned to increase its stake in BTA Belarus from current 48.94 percent to 99.29 percent.

Turkey’s ItalGold to establish branches in Kazakhstan
(Today’s Zaman) - One of the leading brands in Turkey’s jewelry sector, ItalGold, is opening new wholesale and retail offices in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh economy must develop in spite of the global financial crisis - president (Interfax)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 6, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 5, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Kazakh parliament ratifies strategic cooperation pact with United States
(EurasiaNet) - Kazakhstan’s parliament on November 5 endorsed two measures with potentially important ramifications for US-Kazakhstani strategic cooperation, especially on matters relating to the ongoing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

Nazarbaev congratulates Obama on winning the U.S. presidential race (Interfax)

Nazarbaev to participate in Nur Otan’s anticorruption forum; the customs, home affairs and financial police are believed to be most corrupted agencies in Kazakhstan (Interfax)

SOCIETY:

Ethnic relations stable in Kazakhstan, but have some flaws, though - survey (Interfax)

BG delays Kazakhstan investment
(Financial Times) - BG Group has deferred indefinitely a planned investment in Karachaganak, one of the biggest gas and oil fields in Kazakhstan, in the most significant energy project delay as a result of the global financial crisis.

BG Group’s Q3 profit soars, costs delay key project (Reuters)

China and Kazakhstan sign nuclear cooperation agreements
(World Nuclear News) - Agreements on cooperation in uranium production and nuclear energy have been signed during of meeting of the prime ministers of China and Kazakhstan.

Kazakh PM highlights SCO unified energy market (New Europe)

Kazakhstan, ENI-led consortium sign final Kashagan deal (New Europe)

Gasoline prices go down in Kazakhstan regions (Interfax)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Fitch affirms Kazakhstan Temir Zholy at BBB (Fitch Rating - Morningstar)

Kazakhstan’s pension savings plans cannot further develop – expert (Interfax)

Representatives of civil aviation of Kuwait to open direct flight Al Kuwait - Astana (Kazakhstan Today)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 5, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 4, 2008 (Reuters)

Oil export duty should be revised more often - Mynbayev
(SRI) - The Kazakh Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources suggests that the oil export duty should be revised more often, Interfax reported on Monday.

First Kazakh oil shipment goes through BTC pipeline
(AP) - The first shipment of Kazakh oil has been pumped through a strategic pipeline that bypasses Russia on its way to Western markets.

China’s CNPC, KazMunaiGaz sign natural gas agreement
(Thomson Financial - Forbes) - China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent of listed Petrochina Co Ltd, said it has signed a framework agreement with Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz to expand cooperation in natural gas.

Beginning of industrial development of Kashagan - December 31, 2013 - KazMunaiGas first vice chairman (Kazakhstan Today)

Tethys Petroleum: AKK16 exploration well tests gas (MarketWatch)

Government may lift ban on mazut exports if the domestic market gets saturated; oil companies ask to reduce the mazut export duty – energy minister (Interfax)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Kazakhstan pushes banks to sell stakes to government
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan will press banks to raise more capital or accept a partial nationalisation offer as it tries to fend off the impact of the global credit crisis.

Kazakhstan to buy up toxic banking assets
(AP) - The government of Kazakhstan says it will buy up assets from distressed banks in an effort to galvanize the Central Asian nation’s lending sector.

Stress Assets Fund to purchase troubled assets from banks: Prime Minister (Kazinform)

SamrukKazyna Fund presents 19 investment projects (Kazinform)

Air Astana starts flying to Kyrgyz capital Bishkek (Interfax)

Kazakhstan and Kuwait to consider bilateral coop in Astana: Kazakh MFA (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 4, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 3, 2008 (Reuters)

Kashagan agreement signed on Friday
(SRI) - Kazakhstan and a group of Western oil companies developing the giant Kashagan field signed a final agreement on the future of the project, as they concluded a stand-off that drew itself since August of 2007.

Kashagan partners end dispute (Financial Times)

Western oil companies resolve Kazakh dispute (Wall Street Journal)

Details of the final Kashagan agreement (Reuters)

Kazakhstan, China to speed up oilfield agreement
(Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed with Kazakhstan on Friday to speed up work on a deal allowing a Chinese-led consortium to develop a major Caspian Sea oilfield.

KazMunaiGaz, CNPC develop cooperation in gas supply (Kazinform)

MINERAL RESOURCES:

ArcelorMittal recalls Kazakh workers stood down
(Reuters) - Thousands of workers at the Kazakh unit of steel giant ArcelorMittal will return to work after being stood down on half pay for a month.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Trade between Kazakhstan and China may reach $15 bl in 2008, Nazarbaev (Interfax)

Kazkommertsbank issues a diamond credit card for super-rich (Guardian)

Senate ratified Kazakhstan-WB agreement on USD 13.4 billion loan for Technologies Commercialization projects (Kazinform)

Kazakh Government proposes mechanisms for crediting real economy (Kazinform)

President of Kazakhstan estimates potential of mutual investments between Russia and Kazakhstan in USD 40 billion (Kazakhstan Today)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 1-3, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - October 31, 2008 (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders confront global economic crisis in Astana
(EurasiaNet) - Russia used Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) talks in Astana on October 30 to urge a shake-up of the global economic and security order.

China, Kazakhstan issue communique on strengthening partnership (Xinhua)

Two Guantanamo detainees from Tajikistan and Kazakhstan transferred out (AFP)

SOCIETY:

Kazakhstan’s first satellite return to its orbit
(IHT - AP) - Officials say Kazakhstan’s only satellite has been returned to its normal orbit, more than four months after a computer glitch forced the craft to spiral out of control.