NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek President Islam Karimov made a rare trip to Astana where he met Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss plans by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build extra hydropower capacity, an issue that has threatened to destabilise the region. Uzbekistan relies on water from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to feed its important cotton fields.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan, which has virtually zero history of polar exploration, signed up to the Antarctic Treaty, an international agreement to defend the neutrality of the region.
Kazakhstan had shown some interest in the Antarctic region in the past, with private expeditions. In 2011 a Kazakh expedition drove to the South Pole where it planted the national flag on the 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union.
Since then the government has unveiled plans to establish a Kazakh Antarctic station for research and possibly business purposes.
It’s likely that Kazakhstan wants to increase its international profile by signing up to the Antarctic Treaty.
Luca Anceschi, professor of Central Asian Security at the University of Glasgow, said: “This decision is in line with the government’s policy to increase and improve Kazakhstan’s visibility in the international arena.”
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A new railway running from Kazakhstan, through Turkmenistan to Iran will open on Dec. 3, Iran’s minister for urban development, Abbas Akhoundi, said. The route is an important part of a new north-south Silk Road. Turkmenistan wants to encourage trade across its territories.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An outdated version of the Kazakh national anthem was played at a medals ceremony at the Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championships in South Korea, media reported. Kazakhstan is sensitive about national anthem mix-ups after errors that included a spoof anthem and the old Soviet anthem.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Serik Akhmetov, a former Kazakh prime minister and defence minister, was arrested and placed under house arrest for alleged corruption.
It’s been a spectacular fall from grace for the man who was prime minister in April before being moved to the head the defence ministry. He was sacked as defence minister in October.
Powerbases in Kazakhstan are still formed at a local level and it was clear that Mr Akhmetov was going to find himself under increased pressure when senior officials from his home region of Karaganda started to be arrested.
A local court has imprisoned former governor of the region, Baurzhan Abdishev and the former mayor of the city of Karaganda, Meyram Smagulov as well as other officials.
A loyal figure ready to accept any inconvenient position under the instruction of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Mr Akhmetov was one of two powerful men from the Karaganda region. The other one, Nurlan Nigmatullin, is now head of the presidential administration. Businessmen used to say that without Mr Akhmetov’s approval, no deals could be reached in Kazakhstan.
“It would appear [that] the arrest of the former PM of Kazakhstan is about graft, but it could also be an attempt to rid the field of competitive presidential successors,” said Stacy Closson, professor at the University of Kentucky and expert on Central Asian elites.
Possibly.
Mr Akhmetov’s arrest certainly changes the relationship between corruption and politics in Kazakhstan. Previously, only political opponents used to be the target of corruption charges. Now loyalists seem vulnerable too.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh bank Capital Bank signed a deal with top-tier London-based football club Arsenal to use its branding on a new debit card.The deal underlines the confidence and ambition of Kazakh companies. This is the first deal between a Premier League team and a Kazakh company.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The extremist Islamic State (IS) released a propaganda video featuring a Kazakh child going through weapons training and proclaiming he wants to become a jihadist fighter. Kazakh policymakers have been warning about an exodus of recruits from Kazakhstan to IS.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Alliance Bank has completed a $1.2b debt restructuring deal and will now merge with Temirbank and ForteBank to become one of the biggest lenders in the country, Reuters reported. The government bought a stake in Alliance Bank in 2009. Temirbank and ForteBank are owned by billionaire Bulat Utemuratov.
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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)
NOV. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s energy transport monopoly KazTransGas regained control of its Georgian subsidiary, KazTransGas-Tbilisi. Georgia had effectively expropriated the company in 2009 over unpaid debt. KazTransGas- Tbilisi owns a 2,400km gas distribution system in Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)
NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – US burger chain McDonalds will open its first restaurant in Kazakhstan next year, the company announced. The question of if and when McDonalds would finally open a restaurant in Kazakhstan — also its first in Central Asia — has been pondered for years.
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(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)