Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s brain drain

>>Net emigration is the first for a decade>>

FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Almost 27,000 people emigrated from Kazakhstan in 2014. That’s 10% more than those who decided to move into Kazakhstan, creating a negative population flow for the first time in a decade, according to official data.

More worrying for the Kazakh authorities is that behind the migration flux was a clear brain drain.

In the early 1990s, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, millions of non-ethnic Kazakhs left for their familial or cultural homeland. Since then, the population in Kazakhstan has steadily increased.

But a report on migration released by the national statistics agency showed that more people left Kazakhstan in 2014 then moved in. Shynasyl Yernazar, of the Kazakhstan Centre for Public-Private Partnerships said the most worrying sign was the number of young people leaving.

“A brain drain among young professionals is happening, as demonstrated by last year’s survey, by which more than one-third of Kazakhstanis between 18 and 28 said they’d like to leave, ” he told the Tengrinews website (Jan. 29).

Better job prospects and access to more meritocratic systems are the main drivers of this trend. Most of the incoming migrants are from poorer countries.

Daniyar Kosnazarov, a researcher at the Presidential Library in Astana and a co-author of a book on youth issues, said it was important the government finds better and more effective ways of engaging with young Kazakhs.

“With the Eurasian Union, the common labour market will make competition tougher as Russians and Belarusians are better skilled,” Mr Kosnazarov told the Bulletin in a telephone interview from Astana.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)

UN criticises Kazakh clampdown

JAN. 28. 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Wrapping up a mission to Kazakhstan, the UN’s special rapporteur Maina Kiai said he was disturbed to hear from Kazakh officials that they had decided to clamp down on protests because they worried about a Ukraine style rebellion.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015

AcerlorMittal cuts workers’ salaries in Kazakhstan

FEB. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — ArcelorMittal, the Luxembourg-based steel manufacturer, said it had temporarily cut salaries for workers at its plant in Temirtau near Karaganda, central Kazakhstan, by 25. ArcelorMittal has struggled to make the plant profitable over the last few years. It has cut its workforce at the plant to 17,000 from over 20,000.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)

Kazakhs buy the rouble

>>Worries about devaluation drive Kazakhs to the rouble>>

FEB. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — People in Kazakhstan have been buying roubles at surprising rates over the past couple of months.

Exchange bureaus data shows that the demand for the Russian currency increased steadily in November and skyrocketed in December despite the rouble losing value against the Kazakh tenge (Jan. 28).

No official reason has been given for the rise in rouble demand but there are several plausible reasons. A Bulletin correspondent in Almaty said many Kazakhs see the ailing rouble as a cheap currency for cross-border shopping.

Of course, Kazakhs may also be speculating that the rouble is valued too cheaply at the moment and that it will rise in value. This is almost certainly true of its value against the Kazakh tenge.

The Kazakh Central Bank has vowed to avoid another devaluation of the tenge — it cut the value of its currency by 20% last year — but the market, and most people on the streets think that another sudden devaluation is inevitable.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)

Corruption scars Kazakh HIV project

JAN. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Global Fund, a Switzerland-based health organisation, said corrupt suppliers had swindled $5m from an HIV/AIDS awareness project in Kazakhstan. The corruption highlights the extent of the problems facing foreign companies and organisations in Kazakhstan.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015

Kazakh woman jailed for IS propaganda

JAN. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Kazakhstan have jailed a woman in the western city of Aktau for spreading audio files online that supported the Islamic extremist group IS. Kazakhstan has become increasingly sensitive to IS propaganda. IS has targeted Central Asia as a recruitment ground.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015

What prices rise in Kyrgyzstan

JAN. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The price of wheat in Kyrgyzstan has reached a record high because of a poor crop last year, high energy prices and the falling value of the Kyrgyz som, media quoted media reported. Kyrgyz households are sensitive to food price fluctuations as they spend around 60% of their income on food.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015

Toshiba looking to build Kazakh nuclear power station

JAN. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba is negotiating with Kazakhstan to build a new nuclear reactor, media reported. Kazakhstan has been looking to build a new nuclear power station for years. It has earmarked a position for the power station but not yet started work.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Police detain journalists in Almaty

JAN. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police detained several journalists as they left their homes to travel to an unauthorised protest against the closure of the Adam Bol news magazine, media reported quoting associates of the journalists. The UN also said that the freedom to protest in Kazakhstan has worsened recently.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Mangistau soars in Kazakh wage earning table

>>Stats show increase in wages but illnesses also rise>>

JAN. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s a double-edged sword living in the west Kazakh region of Mangistau, according to the Kazakh stats office at least.

Mangistau, the main oil producing region of the country, has been enjoying a salary boom that other regions of Kazakhstan can only dream of. Last year the average workers’ salary in Mangistau rose by 22% to over $1,000/month. This is around 50% more than average salaries in other rural areas of the country.

Of course Mangistau’s fortunes are closely linked to the fortunes of the energy industry which has been enjoying something of a boom over the past few years. With falling oil prices, though, that could be about to change.

The stats don’t all show good news, though. Various statistics said Mangistau has the highest rate of several diseases in the country. Some environmentalists have said that people breathe and drink the by-products of uranium mining projects and the decommissioning of the old nuclear power plant in Aktau.

Worker disputes in the region also affect the region. In 2011, the town of Zhanaozen was the centre of clashes between protesters and police. At least 15 people died.

It’s a trade-off then. The salaries may be higher in Mangistau but the work pressures and the health risks are too.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)