Tag Archives: business

S&P upgrades ratings of Kazakhs lenders

OCT. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ratings agency S&P increased the long term credit rating of Kazkommertsbank, one of Kazakhstan’s largest lenders, by one notch to B- from CCC+. S&P said the reason for the upgrade were the positive results in the first half of 2016 and the increased capitalisation of the bank. S&P also said the outlook remained negative, reflect- ing low confidence in Kazakhstan’s banking sector.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Condor starts production in western Kazakhstan

OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Canadian oil company Condor Petroleum said it started commercial production at its Taskuduk field, 50km west of Uralsk in north- western Kazakhstan. Condor said that, together with Shoba, another Kazakh oil field that started operations in September, its total output has reached 600 barrels/day. The company said its production cost remained low, at $28/barrel, allowing a $29/barrel profit in the first sales contract.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

ArcelorMittal resumes in central Kazakhstan

OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based steel- maker, said it resumed operations at its plant in central Kazakhstan. The company had to cut production for three days, due to administrative issues which blocked train transport. In a separate note, the company said that Mojtaba Damirchilu, Iran’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, visited the plant and pledged to increase Iranian imports of ArcelorMittal Temirtau’s steel by 1/3 to 1.5m tonnes next year. Iran is ArcelorMittal’s biggest client. The international sanctions on Iran had hit its demand for steel, hurting the Kazakh steelmaker.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

EBRD gives loan to Turkmenistan

OCT. 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD lent $850,000 to Gul Zaman, Turkmenistan’s largest events and catering company, to expand its business and create a premium industrial-scale bakery. The EBRD said that the EU will also provide grants and training for the project. Last month, the EBRD gave a $2.8m loan to a Turkmen brewer to build a potato crisp plant.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 301, published on Oct. 21 2016)

Gazprom influence grows over Armenia’s government

OCT. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan appointed the CEO of Gazprom Armenia, Vardan Harutyunyan, as head of the state revenue committee, a move that confirms the growing influence of Russia’s Gazprom in the government.

In September Mr Sargsyan appointed Karen Karapetyan as PM. Mr Karapetyan had been the mayor of Yerevan and previously, also, CEO of Gazprom Armenia.

Mr Harutyunyan had worked at Gazprom since 2009 and was named CEO in 2010, after Mr Karapetyan’s departure.

After his appointment as PM, Mr Karapetyan also nominated Gazprom’s express secretary, Shushan Sardaryan, as his adviser.

Gazprom Armenia is a fully owned subsidiary of Gazprom, the Russian gas giant. Russia is one of Armenia’s biggest allies, maintaining a large military base in the country.

Mr Harutyunyan’s new position puts him in charge of collecting taxes and administering government revenues.

Heading Gazprom Armenia is one of the most important jobs in the country. Gazprom supplies most of Armenia’s gas, via Georgia, although the government is trying to secure more imports from Iran. Media in Armenia suggested that Tigran Karapetyan, the PM’s 29- year-old son, may be given the job.

Russia has previously been accused of using Gazprom to pressure and influence foreign governments.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Azerbaijan’s SOCAR wants to sell stake

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – SOCAR Turkey Enerji, a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company SOCAR, said it will consider selling part of a 5.32% stake it directly owns in Petkim, a petrochemical complex, near Izmir. SOCAR Turkey is also considering participating in the construction of the new Star refinery together with Russia’s Rosneft. Sustained low oil prices have pushed SOCAR to reshuffle their investments abroad.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Kazakhstan’s oil field produces first oil for 3 years

ALMATY, OCT. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kashagan Caspian Sea oil field, Kazakhstan’s Great White economic hope, started producing oil for the first time since 2013, lifting spirits after a tough couple of years for the Kazakh economy Energy minister Kanat Bozumbayev confirmed the re-start of the $50b Kashagan, which was shut down in 2013 after a couple of weeks of operations because of leaky pipes.

“I checked this morning and production is active from four wells, yielding approximately 90,000 barrels/day,” he told media.

Kashagan is one of the biggest international oil finds of the the last 30 years and Kazakhstan hopes that it will propel the country into the premier league of oil producers.

At peak production, Kashagan aims for an output of 370,000 barrels/day. Total Kazakh production is currently 1.5b barrels/day.

Eni, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, CNPC, Inpex and Kazmunaigas operate the Kashagan field.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Gazprombank sells its Armenian subsidiary

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ardshinbank, one of Armenia’s top- three banks, bought Areximbank from Gazprombank, the financial arm of Russia’s giant gas company, for an undisclosed amount.

Areximbank was Armenia’s fifth- largest bank, according to local media and the buy-out will push Ardshinbank towards becoming the largest bank in Armenia. Its assets will grow by 20% to around 540b dram ($1.1b) after the deal. Karen Safaryan, a Russian billionaire businessman with Armenian roots, founded Ardshinbank in 2003 and remains its beneficial owner.

Analysts said that US sanctions against Gazprom and its subsidiaries and Armenian Central Bank requirements for commercial banks could be behind the buy-out.

In 2014, the Central Bank ordered banks to increase their minimum capital requirements by six times to 30b dram ($63m) by January 2017. The rule has prompted a round of mergers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Kazakh oil service company loses money

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Oil service companies owned by Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigas posted a 12% drop in revenues over the past two years, mostly due to sustained low oil prices, Kazmunaigas chairman Sauat Mynbayev said. Mr Mynbayev said that this trend should have triggered layoffs, but under government mandate the companies will not cut jobs. Loss- making Ozenmunaigas will maintain 9,500 workers on its payroll.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Kazakhstan to extend visa-free travel

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will expand its visa-free regime next year, in an effort to boost tourism, the ministry of investment and development said. The new regulations will expand visa-free travel beyond the current 20 developed economies, to include all OECD countries from January 2017.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)