Russia
Commodity turnover between Russia and Kazakhstan for half a year exceeded $11 bln - Masimov
(Kazakhstan Today) - Commodity turnover between Russia and Kazakhstan for six months of 2008 has exceeded $11 billion. (more…)
Kazakhstan Energy Roundup - July 8, 2008
Caspian pipelines ease Russia’s grip
(Asia Times) - The overland oil pipeline that Kazakhstan intends to build from the Tengiz field, in the northwest of the country, to the port of Aqtau in the southwest could help the country shed its dependency on Russia’s export ways.
Medvedev talks pipelines in Central Asia
(St. Petersburg Times) - President Dmitry Medvedev wound up a three-state energy tour with talks in Kazakhstan on Saturday and Sunday to consolidate his country’s monopoly on transiting Central Asian gas.
Kazakhstan negotiates with Azerbaijan and Georgia new oil pipeline
(TREND) - Kazakhstan has began talks with Azerbaijan and Georgia on the construction of new oil pipeline from Baku to Batumi port of the Black Sea, Timur Kulibayev, chairman of KazEnergy Association said.
Russia could buy Oman stake in CPC
Oman, a shareholder in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), plans to pull out of the project citing low profitability of the venture, Interfex reported on Tuesday.
Kazakhstan Politics Roundup - June 30, 2008
Kazakh leader vows reform before taking OSCE chair
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s president promised the West on Sunday his country would pursue democratic change before its chairmanship of Europe’s main human rights watchdog in 2010.
What will Russia gain from Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship
(Eurasia Daily Monitor) - As Kazakhstan’s long-awaited term of chairmanship of the OSCE draws near, Astana is stepping up its multifaceted ties with the West, disregarding the painful reaction of the Kremlin to any westward movement in Central Asia.
Central Asia: Western democracies enable ‘petro-authoritarianism” - report
(EurasiaNet) - Driven by “petro-authoritarianism,” the countries of Central Asia are thoroughly throttling democratization, according to an annual survey conducted by the watchdog group Freedom House.
Transparency is key item of OSCE PA session in Astana (Itar-Tass)
Kazakhstan stands for transformation of the OSCE into a powerful organization: President (Kazinform)
Kazakhstan welcomes European experience in regional integration - Nazarbaev (Interfax)
Medvedev, in energy diplomacy, moves early to consolidate ties with Kazakhstan
Russia and Kazakhstan remained divided on several important energy questions that could dominate the agenda of future meetings of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but geography and economic interdependencies seem destined to keep the two countries close collaborators regardless of the leadership transition in the Kremlin.
Dmitry Medvedev looks far beyond an energy alliance with Astana
Apparently, there was a great deal of political calculation aimed at sobering up adamant western leaders to the hard-line stance of the post-Putin Kremlin in Dmitry Medvedev’s first foreign trip to Astana as Russian President on May 22.
Medvedev sends subtle signals to the West with Kazakhstan visit
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made his first state visit on May 22 and 23, with Kazakhstan as his destination, before proceeding to China. Although he traveled east, his message seemed subtly calibrated for Western consumption.
Medvedev holds Kazakhstan talks
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has held talks with the president of Kazakhstan, during the first stop on his maiden foreign trip.
Mr Medvedev met the president of the oil-rich Central Asian state, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in the capital, Astana.
Medvedev heads to Kazakhstan to talk energy
Dmitry Medvedev will look to cement Russia’s close relationship with Kazakhstan during his first trip abroad as President, which starts on Thursday. Energy is expected to dominate talks between Medvedev and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Astana set to make an energy export break with Russia
Efforts to construct a trans-Caspian pipeline that would dent Russia’s energy-export dominance in the region continue to make incremental progress.
