SEPT. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh officials said that a new round of peace talks in Astana aimed at ending violence in Syria was now scheduled for Sept 14/15. The talks, which feature Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Syrian government and Syrian rebels, had been due to begin in mid-August but were delayed. This is the sixth episode of the talks this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan kept its key interest rate at 5%, citing low inflation and strong economic growth. Central Asia is emerging from a period of low growth, pressured by sluggish Russian economic performance. The latest economic data adds to the generally improving picture. Only a year ago, central banks in the region were boosting interest rates in an effort to dampen inflation and prop up ailing currencies.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> Kazakh President Nazarbayev opened a nuclear fuel bank this week. What is this and what does it mean?
>> A nuclear fuel bank is a secure building that holds low-enriched uranium that can be used to make power. The nuclear fuel bank that has just been opened by Nazarbayev is run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This means that it is different from others around the world as it is supposedly run by a neutral agency and not by single country.
>> Okay. But why is this important?
>> Nuclear power is a highly politicised form of energy. Nation states have their own agendas and the IAEA-controlled nuclear fuel bank is an attempt to reassure smaller nations that there is an independent supply of low–enriched uranium that they can access if they need to. The IAEA wants to promote nuclear power but it also wants to limit the number of countries that have the capability to enrich uranium. Low-enriched uranium can be used to produce electricity but high-enriched uranium can be used to produce weapons.
>> So what has Kazakhstan got to do with all this?
>> Nazarbayev wants to place Kazakhstan at the vanguard of a drive to make nuclear power around the world safer. He gave up an arsenal of nuclear weapons left over by the Soviet Union when it collapsed in 1991. Since then he has also encouraged Kazakhstan to become the world’s biggest producer of raw uranium. Offering Kazakhstan as a location for an IAEA-controlled nuclear fuel bank was a logical step for him. The fuel bank is located in the east of the country near to the USSR’s former nuclear test site.
>> Who paid for this and should we expect a queue of countries looking to access the low-enriched uranium held in the IAEA’s fuel bank?
>> US billionaire Warren Buffett put in $50 million, the US put up nearly $50 million, the EU around $29 million, Kuwait and the UAE $10m and Norway $5m. Kazakhstan paid in $400,000. It’ll take a year to fill with low-enriched uranium, there is nothing in it at the moment, but even when it is operating don’t expect a queue of countries looking to access it. It is considered a reserve of last resort if a country can’t buy low-enriched uranium on the market. It still has to pass various safety protocols, though. Other nuclear fuel banks, including one next door in Russia that opened in 2010 with IAEA backing, have never been used.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
ALMATY, AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — — A methane gas leak triggered an explosion at a mine in central Kazakhstan, killing three coal miners in the worst Kazakh mining accident since 2008 when 30 people died in a blast.
The Kazakhstanstkaya mine is located near the city of Karaganda and is reportedly owned by the steel works at nearby Timirtau. The steel factory is owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.
The reputation of ArcelorMittal’s factory has fallen over the last few years as it cut jobs. This was partly linked to a global economic downturn and partly a result of international sanctions on Iran, a core client.
The factory now employs around 12,000 workers, down from 15,000 only a few years ago. It had also tried to cut staff salaries, although this effort was rebuked.
Kazakhstan has a patchy record for coal mining safety. As well as the 2008 accident, a monorail accident last year also killed three miners at another coal mine owned by ArcelorMittal. In 2006, 41 miners in Kazakhstan died in a methane blast.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
ALMATY, AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the first nuclear fuel bank owned and managed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The low-enriched uranium fuel bank based at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen will be the first independently-managed supply of fuel for nuclear power stations. It will take a year to stock the plant with low-enriched uranium.
For Mr Nazarbayev the opening of the IAEA’s nuclear fuel bank has important inferences, including cementing Kazakhstan’s self-made image as a centre for peaceful nuclear energy.
At the opening ceremony in Astana, Mr Nazarbayev said that the nuclear fuel bank should reduce the risk of nuclear war.
“We are the largest producer of uranium and are ready to play an important role in the world energy,” he was quoted by a government press release as saying.
Over the past 25 years, Mr Nazarbayev has carefully crafted an image for himself as a pioneer of nuclear safety. He voluntarily surrendered an arsenal of nuclear weapons, left over by the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991, and has pushed Kazakhstan to become the biggest producer of raw uranium in the world. It now has a market share of around 40%.
Some have even suggested that Mr Nazarbayev views the nuclear route as a way of securing a Nobel Peace Prize.
The low-enriched uranium nuclear fuel bank is seen as a resource of last resort for countries that need to secure supplies for nuclear power stations.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Kazakhstan aimed at persuading Kazakh companies to list their stocks on the London Stock Exchange, Alan Duncan, the British minister for Europe and the Americas said that he had agreed a deal to help train up Kazakh prison officers. Prison reform is high on the list of changes demanded by human rights activists of Kazakhstan. The country has spent millions on improving conditions but lobby groups say that it still has a long way to go.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
SEPT. 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh riot police intervened in a fight between foreign workers, identified as Indian by Twitter users, and security guards at the Abu Dhabi Plaza construction site in Astana. It is the second major incident at the site, set to be the tallest building in Central Asia, after a fire earlier this year. The fight also shows the tension between foreign workers brought into Kazakhstan to build major infrastructure projects and locals. Kazakhstan has become something of a magnet for migrant workers in the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)
ALMATY AUG. 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percent to 10.25% because it said that inflationary pressures had slowed. It also said, though, that further rate cuts this year were unlikely. The Kazakh Central Bank had yanked up interest rates to 17% in 2016 because of a collapse in the value of the tenge and also inflationary pressure.
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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)
ALMATY, AUG. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — US pizza chain Papa John’s said it would expand its franchise stores into Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, building on what it said was a successful venture into Russia and Belarus (Aug. 24). Papa John said that it planned to open its first restaurant in Almaty by the end of the year and that it would open 15 more by 2022. In Bishkek, it said it planned to open six restaurants.
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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)
AUG. 17 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakh miner KAZ Minerals said it was targeting production of 300,000 tonnes of copper in 2018 after a significant boost to output and copper prices in the first half of the year. KAZ Minerals is an open-pit mine and its operations are focused on Kazakhstan. It doubled production in the first half of the year from the same period in 2016.
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Copyright ©Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)