APRIL 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh finance company Astana Finance is looking for a new date to restructure its $2b debt after missing a previous deadline set on March 28, Reuters quoted managing director Daniyar Nurskenov as saying. Astana Finance, set up 13 years ago, defaulted on its debts in 2009 along with three other Kazakh banks.
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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)
APRIL 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev made one of his regular visits to Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. During the visit, Mr Nazarbayev agreed a number of bilateral deals including an extension, media reported, to a pipeline pumping oil from Kazakhstan to China.
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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)
APRIL 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has attracted 80% of all foreign direct investment in Central Asia since 1993, media in Baku quoted Kazakh first deputy PM Bakytzhan Sagintayev as saying at a conference.
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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)
APRIL 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A demented camel attacked and killed its elderly female owner in western Kazakhstan, local media reported. The story highlights the continued widespread tradition in Kazakhstan of rearing camels. Camel meat is often eaten and the milk is fermented into an alcoholic drink called shubat.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
APRIL 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev is likely to sign various bilateral deals with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping when he visits Beijing from April 6 – 8, Kazakhstan’s media reported. The Tengrinews website reported that Kazakhstan has increased crude oil shipments to China by 20% per year since 2006.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
MARCH 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In comments made on a trip to Dushanbe, Kazakh foreign minister Yerlan Idrissov appeared to signal Kazakhstan’s intent to mediate in a long-running dispute between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan over water rights, media reported. With Iran’s help, Tajikistan is building a dam that will effect water flow to Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
APRIL 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — For aspiring diplomats, Tbilisi is considered a bit of a back-water. Relations between Kazakhstan and Georgia are stable and uncontroversial. Georgia is important to Kazakhstan mainly because some of its energy makes its way to Europe through the Georgian pipeline or railway network.
What it isn’t is glamorous or high-profile and that’s precisely why the appointment of Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s adviser for the last five years, as Kazakh ambassador to Georgia attracted so much attention.
The feeling was that Mr Yertysbayev had been demoted gently, perhaps he’d made one too many unguarded remarks or perhaps Mr Nazarbayev just wanted to freshen up his team.
Mr Yertysbayev had been Mr Nazarbayev’s adviser since May 2008. As well as advising him behind the scenes, Mr Yertysbayev performed an important role by floating potential policy moves to gauge public reaction.
He aired the potential of Timur Kulibayev, Mr Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, becoming president and also updated the media on former British PM Tony Blair’s operations in Kazakhstan.
The last five year stint as Mr Nazarbayev’s adviser had been Mr Yertysbayev’s third in the role. He may well yet return.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
APRIL 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Russian ice-hockey star playing for a Kazakh team died after being hit in the head by an opposition player, media reported. Dmitry Uchaykin, who was playing for Pavlodar in northern Kazakhstan, died from a brain haemorrhage the day after the match. He had driven himself home but felt increasingly unwell in the night.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
APRIL 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank kept interest rates at a record low of 5.5% due to continued sluggish inflation data. It last cut interest rates in August 2012. The Kazakh economy grew by 5% last year, disappointing policy-makers who want higher growth.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)
APRIL 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Negotiators converged on Almaty for a second round of talks aimed at unlocking the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme. These two-day talks are a follow up to negotiations in February. Iran has said that it is developing nuclear capability for civilian purposes but the US suspects that it wants to build a bomb.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)