Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

“I can’t lie” says Kazakh TV reporter

DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The London correspondent of Kazakhstan’s state-owned Khabar TV station and its 24.kz website, Bela Kudaibergenova, resigned saying: “I just can’t lie any more”.

On a Facebook post, Ms Kudaibergenova, who has been in London for six years, said that she decided to quit when she was ordered to spin a dowdy event organised by the Kazakh embassy as a great success which showed the love that the British people have for Kazakhstan.

“That was it. I felt that enough was enough, and I could not do it anymore,” Ms Kudaibergenova told RFE/RL in an interview.

Free speech activists have previously criticised Kazakhstan for crack- downs and for using state-run media to sugar coat reality.

After Ms Kudaibergenova’s resignation, twitter and social media lit up with messages of support.

The reaction of the official media in Kazakhstan, though, was less ecstatic. The Khabar news channel said that a planned move from London had triggered her resignation.

“We never lie,” said Arman Seitmamyut, head of of Khabar TV.

“I personally demand that all our journalists double check all their work and the accuracy of everything.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Coca Cola opens plant in KZ

DEC. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish producerCoca Cola Icecek will open its second plant in Kazakhstan in the first half of 2016, the chairman of the government agency KAZNEX INVESTBorisbi Zhangurazov told media.Coca Cola Icecek will operate the plant, located in Astana, which cost around $70m to build. Kazakhstan is the largest market in Central Asia for Coca Cola Icecek.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Kashagan to start pumping oil by Dec. 2016, says Kazakh minister

DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Seemingly determined to be the bearer of positive news, Kazakh minister of economy Yerbolat Dossayev said construction on expanding the Tengiz oil project would start next April and that the Kashagan oil field would finally begin production in December 2016.

These dates confirm earlier plans to speed up the much-delayed Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea and expand the Chevron-led Tengiz oil- field sooner rather than later.

But some of the numbers are lower than the government had hoped for.

Deputy energy minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev said the Kashagan oil- field will reach an output of 13m tonnes/year by 2020, the equivalent of 250,000 barrels of oil/day. In June, NCOC ex-director Stephane de Mahieu said Kashagan would reach 370,000 barrels/day by the end of 2017. The NCOC consortium includes Eni, Kazmunaigas, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, CNPC and Inpex.

Tengizchevroil – which includes Chevron, ExxonMobil, Kazmunaigas and LukArco – delayed their expansion plan to Tengiz this year because of a drop in oil prices. It has not commented on an April expansion date.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Paramount opens defence plant in Kazakhstan

DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Africa’s Paramount, a private company that manufactures equipment for the police and military, opened a new plant in Astana to produce a version of their Marauder armoured personnel carrier. Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering is a joint venture with state-owned Kazakhstan Engineering Distribution. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev attended the opening.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Kazakh Central Bank skips meeting

DEC. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank cancelled its monthly monetary policy meeting for the second consecutive month, disappointing markets which were looking for guidance on future policy. The Central Bank said that money markets were too unstable for it to announce policy. Critics said it had lost control of the tenge.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Kazakh president signs NGO law

DEC. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law the creation of an agency under the ministry of justice that will be charged with the responsibility of approving funding to non-government agencies. The law has proved controversial with campaigners saying that it is similar to a law introduced by Russia which banned NGOs from taking funding from foreign organisations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigas and Vitol strike $3b futures deal

DEC. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazmunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company, said it reached an agreement with international oil trader Vitol for the forward sale of crude oil for up to $3b, a deal that the debt-ridden Kazakh producer needs to maintain financial stability during a period of low oil prices.

Vitol will buy oil from Kazmunaigas’ share of oil produced at the Tengiz field in western Kazakhstan and then pumped by the CPC pipeline around the northern tip of the Caspian Sea to Novorossiysk in Russia.

Kazmunaigas, commonly known as KMG, will receive advance payments in the short term.

“It is expected that KMG will be able to draw the first tranche within 2-4 months,” the company said in a statement.

Neither company disclosed the amount of oil that will be traded and the duration of the contract, but a Bulletin calculation showed that the deal could range between 3 and 5 years, depending on how much of the 2-3m tonnes of oil KMG exports each year from Tengiz Vitol will buy and how big the discount is.

By committing to the sale of futures, Kazmunaigas earnsmuch needed cash in the short term to cover its outstanding debts. But there will be a reasonable discount which will manifest itself over the next few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Kazakh KAZ Minerals boost copper production

DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh miner KAZ Minerals said it had produced its first copper from the Aktogay project in east Kazakhstan. KAZ Minerals,previously known as Kazakhmys, forecast that the Aktogay project will produce 15,000 tonnes of copper/year over the next decade.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Inflation rises in Kazakhstan

DEC. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Kazakhstan to the year ending Nov. 30 measured 12.8%, the state’s statistics committee said. The sharp prices rises show the impact of the tenge devaluation on the economy. The main inflation driver has been food prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Kazakhstan joins the WTO

DEC. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan officially joined the World Trade Organisation. The deal to join the WTO will force changes to the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)