MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kenes Rakishev, one of the best connected men in Kazakhstan, bought a minority stake in retailer Magnum Cash & Carry. Magnum has seven shops in Almaty and two in Astana. Reports did not say how much Mr Rakishev paid for his stake nor who he bought the stake from.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
MAY 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has offered India’s state-owned energy company ONGC Videsh a stake in the Abai oil field in the Caspian Sea, media reported. Almost exactly a year ago, Kazakhstan blocked a deal by India to buy a stake in the giant Kashagan oil field. India has been looking to Kazakhstan to boost its oil reserves.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
MAY 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to woo foreign investors, Kazakhstan plans to introduce various tax breaks and other benefits, economy minister Yerbolat Dossayev said. These new measures are likely to include 10-year tax breaks and visa free entry for 90 days for investors from developed countries.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Bank signed a framework agreement with Astana to invest a further $2.5b into small and medium sized businesses and to help reform the banking sector.
This is a strong statement of intent from the World Bank.
“We are ready to start the first project on easing the access to financing for SMEs. We are glad that our collaboration with the government has been renewed,” said a spokesperson at the World Bank’s office in Astana.
In the same week, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also signed an agreement to join its proposed $1.6b investment with a $5.5b cash injection from Kazakhstan’s own national funds.
ADB top management described the investment as “groundbreaking” as they gathered at a summit with the government in Astana.
Their investments will be primarily focused on the development of small and medium enterprises and strengthening the non-oil sector of the economy.
Both deals are important for propelling Kazakhstan further towards its stated aim of becoming one of the world’s top 30 economies by 2050.
The world’s main financial institutions appear to believe that the Kazakh economy can achieve this, or at least can punch further above its weight.
One experienced financial professional in Almaty was more candid, however. “If the money is directed towards the development of infrastructure and the private sector, then it’s a good thing. Otherwise, it can be a waste,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
APRIL 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Corruption at universities in Kazakhstan is now so endemic that it has become an industry worth $100m a year, media reported quoting the ministry of education. Buying a decent grade in an exam costs about $300. Corruption is still rampant in Kazakhstan despite the government’s attempts to stamp it out.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Temirtau steel plant in central Kazakhstan, owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, said that it would make 1,000 workers redundant in order to cut costs.
Outside the energy sector, the Temirtau steel plant is one of Kazakhstan’s biggest industrial operations.
It’s been trying to navigate through a difficult period, though. The combination of sanctions on Iran, previously the factory’s biggest client, and the general global economic weakness combined to knock profits and it has steadily laid off workers over the past couple of years.
At the end of last year, reports surfaced that it would look to cut around 2,500 people from its workforce of about 14,500. This now appears to have been watered down.
There hasn’t been an official statement from the company but state-backed TV channel Astana quoted Dmitry Pavlov, head of human resources at the plant, saying that the work force would be cut by only 1,000 people.
Temirtau is a classic Soviet style monogorod. The plant is the heart and soul of the city and, although the job losses appear to be limited, they will still have a large trickle-down impact.
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(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)
APRIL 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Under pressure from persistent delays and setbacks, the North Caspian Operating Company building the Kashagan oil field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea sacked Pierre Offan, its chairman and managing director. Officials have said Kashagan may be closed for another two years while leaky pipes are replaced.
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)
APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The revolution and turmoil in Ukraine has frightened the Kazakh government and triggered a draconian law gagging the media, journalists and analysts told the Conway Bulletin.
Earlier this month, the Kazakh government introduced a law that will allow it to ban media during a state of emergency.
Yevgeniya Plakhina, an independent journalist and blogger who has staged anti-government protests, was succinct in her view of the new law.
“The continuous state of revolution in Ukraine has scared the government,” she said. “These laws give the leadership a red button, a button that can be arbitrarily pushed.””
Mainstream media in Kazakhstan has become increasingly marginalised, leaving a void for social media to fill. The authorities argue that social media, as well as more traditional forms of press, can be manipulated by extremists and needs to be controlled during an emergency.
Peer Teschendorf, regional director of the Friederich Ebert Foundation, a German organisation promoting civil society and media freedom, said that these laws were the culmination of a process that began after fighting in the oil town of Zhanaozen in Western Kazakhstan in 2011.
“The free press that is left now has to tread very carefully,” he said.
For Zhanbolat Mamay, journalist for the independent newspaper Tribuna, the law reflects future political landmarks that the authorities are worried about
“The signing of the Eurasian Economic Union treaty is in May and no-one is allowed to criticise it,” he said referring to the morphing of the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan into a stronger union.
“Another reason behind the new laws lays in preparing for the future. The transition to a new leader will have to happen in an information void, in order to prevent criticism and revolt.”
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)
APRIL 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Property prices in Almaty have risen by 25% over the past year as the economy rebounds and the city attracts migrants looking for work, media reported. Kazakhstan’s economy is still relatively fragile and the large property price increase has triggered concerns of a bubble.
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)
ALMATY/Kazakhstan, APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In Kazakhstan’s former capital, the weekend is for parties but, it appears, not everybody is invited.
Down a side street, just off one of the main streets running through Almaty, a group of five or six young men wearing leather jackets smoked cigarettes and shouted insults at the men queuing to enter a gay bar on the opposite side of the road.
The insults grew louder and stronger. Nobody stepped in to stop the abuse.
Being homosexual in Kazakhstan is far from easy. The Soviet legacy of the punishment of buggery and the revival of the strong traditional values of the country’s macho nomadic heritage both play against homosexuality.
This, though, according to a gay rights activist in Almaty goes against the tradition of the city itself.
“Almaty has a history of more than 100 years of mild tolerance towards homosexuality,” the activist who preferred to stay anonymous said in hushed tones below chatter floating across a central Almaty coffee shop.
“During the Tsarist times, Panfilov Park (then Pushkin Park) was used as a pick-up place by Russian men. This was the most gay-friendly city in the whole of Central Asia.”
But now momentum across the former Soviet Union, led by Moscow, has triggered a raft of legislation against homosexuality. Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament has been holding an ongoing debate on just how to repress homosexuality in society.
A university professor in Almaty described the impact. “There are several professionals who conceal their sexual orientation in the workplace,” he said. Almaty’s former reputation as a tolerant city appears broken.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)