NOV. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament passed a so-called luxury tax that will increase excise duty on cigarettes and alcohol. The increase in excise duty is designed to bring prices of hard alcohol and cigarettes in Kazakhstan in line with Russia and Belarus, its Customs Unions partners.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Igor Shkolnik, son of the head of Kazakhstan’s nuclear agency Kazatomprom, has bought a 14.9% stake in Russia’s Exillon Energy for about $115m, media reported. In 2011 Mr Shkolnik bought a stake in the Orsk refinery, Russia, from Rosneft. Analysts say he holds these investments for powerful members of the Kazakh elite.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan-based metals and mining company ENRC completed its de-listing from the London stock exchange. The British financial authorities had started investigating ENRC earlier this year after concerns about its corporate governance. This triggered a move by the three Kazakh founders of ENRC to de-list it.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Corruption has derailed a 195b tenge ($1.3b) government programme to bring drinking water to villages across Kazakhstan, media quoted Askhat Bekanov, a member of parliament, as saying. Mr Bekanov said in the Aktau region, for example, only six of the 300 villages that needed water system upgrades had received them.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament passed a tax rise on alcohol and cigarettes which will balance prices with Russia and Belarus, its partners in the Customs Union, but could also anger ordinary people.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev voiced his approval for a law on so-called luxury goods in October during a party congress and also called for higher wealth taxes.
Besides higher taxes for large houses and powerful cars, the law specifically targets alcohol and cigarettes, which Mr Nazarbayev called “evil passions”.
The law will double the excise duties on strong alcoholic beverages in 2014, progressively reaching in 2016 a level of 1,600 tenge (about $10.50), more than three times the current value. On cigarettes, the increase will be 30% every year.
Russia has limited the amount of spirits that can be transported across the borders of the Customs Union in order to avoid price dumping. In Kazakhstan prices and excise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes had been lower than in Russia and Belarus. The new tax rises should change this.
Parliamentarians also justify the law because they said it would curb smoking and excessive drinking.
Other analysts, though, said increased prices could just push alcohol consumption underground and increase smuggling.
More tax increases for Kazakhstan’s wealthy are expected in the future. In the same speech in October that Mr Nazarbayev called for an increase in taxes on property, alcohol and cigarettes, he also called for a rise in income tax for the rich.
“Now when the wealthy class has expanded they can and should contribute towards social responsibility,” he said. “In our country a millionaire and a worker pay the same 10% income tax. We should think about it.”
Watch this space.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)
NOV. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Atyrau, western Kazakhstan sentenced a 26-year-old man to 20 years in jail for leading an Islamic extremist group blamed for a series of bomb attacks. Orynbasar Munatov was allegedly the head of Jund al-Khilafah, which means Soldiers of the Caliphate. Pakistan extradited him to Kazakhstan in June.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s new Central Bank chief, Kairat Kelimbetov, said he wanted to move the Bank to Astana from Almaty. Mr Kelimbetov replaced the independent-minded Grigory Marchenko as the Central Bank chief in October. Reports have said Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants the Central Bank in Astana.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan opened embassies in South Africa and Vietnam, continuing its diplomatic roll our across the world. The next day Kazakhstan gained observer status at the African Union, the continent’s main political bloc, in Addis Ababa.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank, owned by Timur Kulibayev and his wife Dinara Nazarbayeva, turned down the option of exchanging its pension fund for the government’s shares in BTA Bank. By declining the swap, Mr Kulibayev potentially pit himself against Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, his father-in-law.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)
NOV. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second largest bank, reported that profits for the first nine months of the year grew by 4.1% compared to a year earlier, partly buoyed by an increase in consumer lending. The 8.3% increase in loans is more evidence, if it was needed, that consumer confidence in Kazakhstan has bounced back.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)