MAY31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The three billionaire founders of Kazakhstan’s London-listed miner ENRC have asked to extend the deadline for a takeover proposal by three weeks to June 24, Reuters reported. The billionaires; Alexander Machkevitch, Alijan Ibragimov and Pathokh Chodiev, want support from the Kazakh government and copper miner Kazakhmys.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 31 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz authorities declared a state of emergency around the Kumtor gold mine in the east of the country after thousands of protesters demanding more financial benefits clashed with police. The Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan’s biggest industrial project, is owned by Toronto-listed Centerra Gold. The Kyrgyz government owns a 33% stake in Centerra Gold.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Italy detained and deported back to Kazakhstan the wife and daughter of fugitive billionaire banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, media reported. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev considers Ablyazov, ex-chairman of BTA Bank, to be one of his biggest enemies.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Austria’s OMV has agreed to sell a 9% stake in the company planning to build the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline from the Shah Deniz II gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe. France’s GDF Suez agreed to buy the stake for an undisclosed amount. The consortium developing Shah Deniz II will decide whether to use Nabucco or a rival to deliver gas to Europe.
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(News report from Issue No. 137, published on June 3 2013)
MAY 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Due to Western sanctions against Iran and a sluggish world economy, steel production, an important part of Kazakhstan’s economy, continued to drop in the first four months of 2013, media reported quoting official data. Kazakhstan produced 22% less steel between Jan. and April 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government will make a final decision on whether to buy the 8.2% stake in the Kashagan Caspian Sea oil field by July 2, energy minister Sauat Mynbayev said. ConocoPhillips, the US oil company, is selling the stake which could fetch up to $5b. Both India and China have expressed interest in a deal.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan aims to start production at its Galkynysh gas field, the world’s second largest, by the end of June, media quoted officials as saying. Gas production at Galkynysh will consolidate Turkmenistan’s status as global leader in energy supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazmunaigas, the Kazakh state oil and gas company, will increase output at its Uzen oil field in the west of the country, keeping to a pledge made after deadly riots in 2011, the company’s deputy CEO, Daniyar Berlibayev, told Reuters. Falling production at Uzen and job losses were partly blamed for the 2011 riot.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish telecoms giant TeliaSonera has replaced the CEO of Kcell, its Kazakh subsidiary.
Ali Agan will replace Veysel Aral, who has moved to head TeliaSonera’s Eurasia business division, as CEO. Mr Agan immediately said he wanted to develop 4G coverage in Kazakhstan, a strategy backed up later by the TeliaSonera CEO.
Kcell is the biggest mobile operator in Kazakhstan with 13.5m subscribers, a market share of 45%.
Mr Agan is a TeliaSonera insider. He has headed up TeliaSonera’s Uzbek unit, Ucell, since September last year and before that had been CEO of Azercell, the Azerbaijani unit.
TeliaSonera has been caught up in a corruption investigation in Uzbekistan since last year, focused on indirectly paying Uzbek officials for a 3G licence. The focus of the investigation does not include Mr Agan.
The day after announcing the new head of Kcell, Reuters reported that the CEO of TeliaSonera, Per-Arne Blomquist, told Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev how the company planned to roll out 4G coverage.
So far only Kazakhtelecom, the state-owned fixed line monopoly, has opened a 4G network in Kazakhstan. It opened the service in Astana and Almaty last year for its mobile brand Altel, the smallest Kazakh mobile operator.
Mr Blomquist said TeliaSonera had invested $2b into infrastructure in Kazakhstan in the past 15 years.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish TV aired fresh documents appearing to show more evidence that telecoms giant TeliaSonera paid Gulnara Karimova, the all-powerful eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, to win a 3G licence in Uzbekistan. TeliaSonera is the subject of a Swedish investigation into corruption allegations.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)