Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan to host nuclear fuel bank

AUG. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed a deal with the Kazakh government to host the first internationally-controlled bank of low-enriched uranium, an agreement that will boost Kazakhstan’s global stature. The idea is that countries can ask to tap into the supply for fuel for their power stations and prevent any unilateral nuclear build up.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 245, published on Aug. 28 2015)

Sinopoec and Lukoil complete Kazakh deal

AUG. 20/21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – China’s state-linked Sinopec agreed to buy the half of Kazakhstan-based Caspian Investments Resources (CIR) for $1.09b that it didn’t already own from Russia’s Lukoil, media reported. The price is lower than the $1.2b initially struck in 2014 and reflects the lower oil price. CIR used to be called Nelson Resources.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 245, published on Aug. 28 2015)

Kazakh shares rally after devaluation

AUG. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Shares in Kazakh copper miner KAZ Minerals, formerly called Kazakhmys, rose by 20% on the London stock exchange immediately after Kazakhstan’s government said that it would allow its tenge currency to free-float. The announcement knocked 23% off the value of the tenge, giving exporters a much needed boost.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 244, published on Aug. 21 2015)

Kazakhstan devalues the tenge by 23%

ALMATY/Kazakhstan, AUG. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan gave up its defence of the tenge by ditching a peg to the US dollar which had cost it billions to enforce, a move that knocked 23% off the currency’s value .

Businesses, policy makers and analysts will now be watching for a subsequent rise in inflation, as well as possible social unrest, in Kazakhstan.

At a government meeting broadcast on national television, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the depreciation of the Russian rouble and a sharp fall in oil prices in the past year meant that it was becoming far too costly to defend the tenge.

“Let us face it, this is a necessary measure, there was no other alternative. Crisis always brings about change,” he said.

This is a major policy shift for Kazakhstan which had been alone in the Central Asia and South Caucasus region in stubbornly defending its currency. Perhaps the sudden devaluation of the Chinese yuan earlier this month was the trigger for the Kazakh devaluation.

Kazakh exporters had been struggling as their products became more expensive.

The devaluation will also damage the reputation of the Central Bank and the tenge. This is its second devaluation in 18 months. Since February 2014, the tenge has lost 39% of its value.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 244, published on Aug. 21 2015)

Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan plan TV station

AUG. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Astana, information ministers from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to set up a news channel which will promote a so-called Turkic view of the world. These countries, and especially Azerbaijan, have become frustrated with what they view as biased coverage in Western media.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 244, published on Aug. 21 2015)

Kazakh President appoints EXPO chief

AUG. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Akhmetzhan Yessimov, formerly the mayor of Almaty, to head his set piece EXPO-2017 in Astana. Mr Yessimov is a trusted ally of Mr Nazarbayev and is tasked with bringing EXPO-2017 back on track after a major corruption scandal. Baurzhan Baibek, an official at Mr Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan, will be the new Almaty mayor.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 243, published on Aug. 14 2015)

Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan plan Caspian naval drills

AUG. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia will host two naval exercises this year with the Azerbaijani and Kazakh navies, media reported quoting senior Russian officials. The drills will take place in the Caspian Sea. The first will be a bilateral exercise involving Azerbaijan and Russia. The second will be trilateral and also include Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 243, published on Aug. 14 2015)

Kazakh city loses Olympics

JULY 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Beijing beat Almaty in the race to host the 2022 Winter Olympics at a vote at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Kuala Lumpur. Almaty had been looking to become the only city in the former Soviet Union outside Russia to host an Olympic Games. President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants to burnish his image as the father-of-the-nation by hosting a major sporting event.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 242, published on Aug. 7 2015)

Kazakh Central Bank buys 10% stake in Kashagan oil project

JUNE 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh Central Bank bought a 10% stake in Kazmunaigas from the country’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna for 750b tenge ($4b), a move analysts said was designed to help the state- owned energy company pay off debts generated by a sharp fall in oil prices.

This is the second reorganisation of Kazmunaigas since June. It earlier announced the sale of half its 16.8% stake in the Kashagan oil project to Samruk-Kazyna for $4.7b.

Analysts at Halyk Bank, a Kazakh bank, said the latest move shifted debt once again from Kazmunaigas to Samruk Kazyna to the Central Bank.

“If the first transaction raised the net debt of Samruk-Kazyna, the second lowered Samruk- Kazyna’s net debt, and the credit risk. By divesting of Kazmunaigas, Samruk-Kazyna reduced the most expensive part of its debt,” Halyk Finance senior analysts Sabit Khakimzhanov and Gulmariya Zhapakova said in a note to clients.

Delays at Kashagan and a sharp fall in oil prices have worsened Kazmunaigas’ financial affairs.

But, although unprecedented, the Central Bank’s purchase will change little in Kazakhstan’s oil sector. The two transactions may have helped Kazmunaigas achieve a better financial position in the short term, but both moves are temporary.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 242, published on Aug. 7 2015)

Kazakh court sentences Islamic extremists

AUG. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Aktobe, west Kazakhstan, jailed eight men for 3-6 years for spreading Islamic extremist propaganda, media reported. Kazakhstan is becoming increasingly sensitive to the spread of Islamic propaganda. It worries that the radical IS group in Syria and Iraq is actively recruiting from Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 242, published on Aug. 7 2015)