APRIL 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has banned sales of some pork products from Russia for health reasons, media reported, although some analysts said the real reason for the ban was worsening trade relations. Kazakh producers have complained of a flood of Russian goods. The devaluation of the Russian rouble has made Russian goods very cheap in Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
BERLIN, MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – To celebrate Nauryz, a traditional festival to mark the start of spring, the Kazakh embassy in Berlin paid for a free concert at the city’s Philharmonic Theatre.
The performance was to be a celebration of Kazakh culture with two youth orchestras and several dancers flown in from Astana.
Culture, as well as politics and trade, have become an important part of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy, promoting its brand and pushing its image. Kazakhstan is bidding to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2022, it is hosting the international EXPO in 2017 and wants to win one of the rotating seats at the UN Security Council.
Free, or heavily subsidised performances in European capitals are one way of pushing its messages.
The Kazakh ambassador to Germany, Bolat Nussupov, opened the concert in Berlin, speaking briefly about Kazakhstan’s concept on interethnic harmony. Kazakhstan heralds this concept regularly and the symbolism was maintained during the concert with dances routines from various Kazakh ethnicities in traditional costumes.
The evening, and the Kazakh PR push, continued outside the hall with free traditional food, from plov to baursaki.
“It’s nice to have such events when we’re so far from home. I felt surrounded by my own people, my own heritage for a night,” said Aya, who moved to Berlin 16 years ago from Kazakhstan.
And as well as delighting Kazakh emigres in Germany, the performance seemed to have made an impact on Kazakhstan’s target audience — ordinary Germans.
“It’s good to learn about Kazakh folklore, the performance was remarkable, if slightly cheesy,” Daniel, a German designer said as he swallowed a mouthful of baursak, a popular Kazakh fried bread snack.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
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MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Three Kazakhs and a Ukrainian opera singer born in Kazakhstan died in the Germanwings plane crash, the Kazakh foreign ministry said. The plane, carrying 150 people, crashed in the French Alps (March 24). It was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Have we just witnessed Central Asia’s first inter-presidential bromance?
At the inauguration of a new school, Kyrgyzstan’s president Almazbek Atambayev shared some flattering, perhaps even flirtatious, remarks towards his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.
“I’ve often thought that if instead of Akayev and Bakiyev we had had Nursultan Nazarbayev as our president, everything would have been different,” he said at the opening of a school funded by Kazakhstan.
Mr Atambayev was referencing Akayev and Bakiyev, two former presidents of Kyrgyzstan who were both overthrown in two different revolutions and who are labelled as corrupt and untrustworthy, a sharp contrast to the apparently benign and generous Mr Nazarbayev.
Mr Atambayev showered Mr Nazarbayev with more praise.
“Every time I meet with Nursultan Nazarbayev I am convinced that he is not only the elder of the people of Kazakhstan, but also the Kyrgyz,” he said.
Small and relatively impoverished compared to its northern neighbour, Kyrgyzstan needs to keep Kazakhstan sweet.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prosecutors in France have charged Jean-Francois Etienne des Rosaies, an ex-presidential adviser, with corruption over a 2010 deal to sell 295 trains and 45 helicopters to Kazakhstan, AFP reported. Media said he was the fourth person to be charged in connection with the deal.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a protocol that officially cleared Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) later this year, Russian media reported. Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia are already members of the EEU.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – After announcing a 58% rise in net profit, Halyk Bank said it would increase its shareholder dividend to 30% of its total profit. This is an increase from 2014 when Halyk Bank paid out dividends worth 25% of its profit. Halyk Bank is one of Kazakhstan’s biggest and most profitable banks.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – China has opened up negotiations on building a transport and logistics hub in north Kazakhstan, media reported. China would use the hub to send goods to Russia and to Europe. Kazakhstan has been promoting itself as a stage-post between Europe and Asia.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Malaysia-based Cliq Energy said it would buy stakes in two oil fields in Kazakhstan for $117.3m through a 51% purchase of Phsytech Firm. The fields are located in the North Karazhanbas region of Mangistau, west Kazakhstan, and have proven reserves of 39.5m barrels of oil.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union’s (EEU) first year is shaping up to be one to forget.
A sharp devaluation in the value of the rouble, triggered by Western sanctions and falling oil prices, and meddling in Ukraine’s civil war have hit Russia’s credibility among its former Soviet partners. After a meeting in Astana, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared to distance himself from the Kremlin.
Mr Nazarbayev hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko at the meeting. Armenia, the fourth member of the EEU, didn’t attend.
Mr Nazarbayev appeared to suggest that Mr Putin’s alleged support for rebels in eastern Ukraine had gone too far.
“It is important for any decisions that get made to rely on fundamental principles of international law. We are interested in Ukraine staying a stable, independent, territorially integral country,” he said.
Apparent tension at the meeting in Astana between the leaders wasn’t contained to Ukraine.
Mr Putin once again brought up the prospect of a single currency throughout the Eurasian Economic Union, something that Mr Nazarbayev has already ruled out.
“The time has come to start thinking about forming a currency union,” news reports quoted Mr Putin as saying. Mr Putin also suggested a Central Bank for the single currency could be based in Almaty.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)