Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakhs rally for Ukraine

FEB. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The revolution that swept Viktor Yanukovich from power in Ukraine has reverberated, gently, around the former Soviet Union.

In Almaty, the financial capital of Kazakhstan, roughly two dozen people gathered outside the Ukrainian consulate last week after news emerged that snipers had shot dozens of people in Kiev. They lit candles and sang the Ukrainian national anthem. Social media filled with statements of solidarity and posts that shared the latest news, both in Russian and in Kazakh.

Although analysts have said that the revolution in Ukraine may trigger anti-government demonstrations in other parts of the former Soviet Union, apart from the vigil outside the Ukrainian consulate in Almaty, the reaction on the streets was muted.

This was partly, said political observer Adil Nurmakov of blogbasta.kz, because most legal forms of protest in Kazakhstan had been extinguished.

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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)

Rumours erode bank assets in Kazakhstan

FEB. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kaspi Bank’s chairman, Mikhail Lomtadze, said customers withdrew 40b tenge ($216m) from their accounts after SMS messages wrongly claimed the Kazakh bank was going to collapse after the devaluation of the Tenge earlier this month. Mr Lomtadze said this equalled roughly a tenth of all the savings in Kaspi Bank.

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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)

Kazakh FM complains over Russian comment

FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry has complained to Russia about comments made by politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky who said Central Asia should become a federal Russian region, media reported. Mr Zhirinovsky is known for his outspoken comments and, although relatively high profile, is considered a fringe politician.

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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)

Kazakhstan bans sale of Uzbek-made cars

FEB. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has banned the sale of Uzbekistan-made GM Daewoo cars, media reported, triggering a potential trade row between the two neighbours.

Officially, Kazakhstan said Customs Union rules stated that imported cars must have at least one front airbag, ABS braking, child safety seat attachment points, daytime running lights and an immobiliser.

Unofficially, the suspicion is that Kazakhstan may be using the Customs Union to protect its own car industry.

The Customs Union has been in existence since 2011. It is led by Russia and so far includes also Kazakhstan and Belarus, although Armenia and Kyrgyzstan plan to join later this year. Uzbekistan has no plans to join.

Its rules and regulations, though, are some-what murky but what we do know is that, by instinct, it is a protectionist organisation.

What is clear is that last year GM-Uzbekistan, which produces its cars at a factory in Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan sold around 23,000 of its cheaper car models in Kazakhstan and around three times that many to Russia.

GM took over the Daewoo factory in Uzbekistan in 2008.

Visitors to Shymkent, a city of 600,000 people in Kazakhstan on the border with Uzbekistan, will notice that many of the cars on the roads being driven there are Daewoo.

Both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have been talking up their car industries. Uzbekistan’s main car markets are Russia and Kazakhstan and the GM Daewoo factory is its biggest producer.

Losing Kazakhstan, and Russia, as an export market will be a major blow and have, potentially, far reaching implications.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)

Kazakh employers raise salaries

FEB. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — More employers in Kazakhstan said they would increase workers’ salaries after the 20% devaluation of the tenge this month. Copper producer Kazakhmys and the government of Aktobe region both said they would increase salaries by 10%. The devaluation has stoked fears of inflation.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)

Rumours of bankruptcy dent Kazakh banks’ reputation

FEB. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Betraying ordinary Kazakh’s nervousness and distrust after the devaluation of the tenge on Feb. 11 by 20%, rumours of a banking collapse spread fast via SMS and triggered a run on several banks.

The banks — Bank Tsenter Kredit, Alliance Bank and Kaspii Bank — all denied that they were in danger of collapsing.

At branches of Kaspii Bank, though, hundreds of people still queued throughout Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 to withdraw their savings despite assurances from the Central Bank that there was no reason to panic.

Saltanat was one of roughly 100 people queuing to withdraw their savings from a Kaspii Bank branch in Almaty.

“They said there won’t be any problem, but why should I believe them?” he said. “They said nothing about the devaluation either. They’re not going to take our money away!”

Confidence in Kazakhstan’s banking sector and the tenge is low.

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Syr Darya river floods in southern Kazakhstan

FEB. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Syr Darya river, flowing through southern Kazakhstan, has flooded, drowning and freezing dozens of cattle and horses, media reported. Photographs showed dead horses frozen in ice. Farmers say that they were not given enough warning by the local authorities to defend their cattle and land.

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Rakishev becomes chairman of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank

FEB. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kenes Rakishev, closely linked to members of the Kazakh elite, officially became chairman of BTA Bank. In December, Mr Rakishev agreed a deal worth nearly $1b with Kazkommertsbank to buy a 93% stake in BTA Bank from the government. BTA Bank, whose former chairman is Mukhtar Ablyazov who allegedly embezzled billions from the bank, has a high proportion of non-performing loans.

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

ATF Bank posts profit in Kazakhstan

FEB. 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — ATF Bank, bought by Kazakh investors from Italy’s Unicredit in 2013, made a profit last year for the first time since 2007, media reported. ATF Bank said it made a profit of $9.7m in 2013. The bank is now officially owned by Galymzhan Yessenov, son-in-law of the Almaty’s mayor Akhmetzhan Yessimov.

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)

Kazakh president props up the economy

FEB. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered officials to pump $5.4b into the economy from the national reserve fund to boost growth in 2014 and 2015. Mr Nazarbayev said he wanted to maintain growth rates of 6-7%. His interjection underlines the fragile state of Kazakhstan’s economy.

(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)