Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Comment: Ignore the corporate feel, EXPO-2017 is worth a visit

JUNE 19 2017 (The Bulletin) — After a build-up lasting five years, Kazakhstan has finally opened EXPO- 2017. If you’re in Astana between now and mid-September when it closes, you should go. It feels excessively corporate and you’ll probably come out of the EXPO-2017 site none-the-wiser on what exactly its Orwellian-tinged ‘Future Energy’ means, but don’t dwell on this — it’s not the real point of the exposition.

EXPO-2017 is a source of national pride and a must-do event for most ordinary Kazakhs this summer, at least for the ones who live in and around Astana. And this pride and sense of fun is evident throughout EXPO-2017. The dozens and dozens of uniformed guides are courteous, speak excellent English and are genuinely helpful. The student volunteers beam with joy and are relishing the internationalism of the whole event.

As for the visitors, when I was there it must have been 95% Kazakh. These were groups of families and friends touring the pavilion, drinking in each country’s take on EXPO- 2017. This ranges from Britain’s glowing yurt to Iran’s focus on promoting its carpets.

The visiting Kazakhs, armed with selfie sticks and aging smartphones, weren’t the super rich who travel effortlessly around the world, these were Kazakhs who may never have left Central Asia, or been on a solitary trip to Europe. EXPO-2017 feels as if it has returned the international exposition series to its original mid-19th century Victorian era roots of bringing the world to a particular city.

The human rights lobby draws visitors’ attention to Kazakhstan’s poor record for tolerating dissent and media freedom, and there have been widely documented corruption issues around EXPO-2017, but push this aside for now and enjoy the spectacle.

And make sure you don’t miss out on the Caribbean pavilion, the least scripted section. The women from Belize, Haiti and Dominica will tell you how they are coping with four months in Kazakhstan, a country they hadn’t heard of until earlier this year.

By James Kilner, Editor, Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana looks to London for IPO

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ASTANA, JUNE 15 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s national airline, Air Astana, is likely to launch its international IPO on the London Stock Exchange, CEO Peter Foster said at the Astana Economic Forum.

Air Astana and other state-owned companies that the Kazakh government wants to privatise are legally bound to list on the new Astana Stock Exchange, which will open next year, but the destination of a secondary foreign listing has been the focus of debate. Stock exchanges in Shanghai, Dubai and Singapore have all been touted as possible venues for Air Astana, although London has always been favourite.

“The foreign exchange is likely to be London,” Mr Foster told an audience during an AEF session focused on privatisation.

“The window for an IPO will open in Q3 2018.”

Currently, the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kayna owns 51% of Air Astana and BAE Systems owns a 49% stake.

Mr Foster later told the Bulletin that BAE Systems wanted the foreign IPO in London. The aim of the IPO is to double the size of the fleet over the next decade to around 65 planes.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s TCO reveals finance plan

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JUNE 15 2017 (The Bulletin) — Tengizchevroil (TCO), Kazakhstan’s biggest oil producer, has cut its dividend payment this year to part- fund an expansion project, the CEO of Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company Kazmuniagas, Sauat Mynbayev, said. Mr Mynbayev also said that TCO would also borrow $20b to fund the $37b expansion project. The TCO expansion is considered a vital step in extending Kazakhstan’s oil production. It will increase production to 39m tonnes per year from 27m tonnes per year by 2022.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakh art depicts Crimea as part of Russia

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ASTANA, JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Ukraine sent an official complaint to the Kazakh foreign ministry after it emerged that an art exhibition set up for the start of EXPO-2017 showed Crimea to be a part of Russia.

Russia annexed Crime in 2014 but the international community, including Kazakhstan, has not recognised the landgrab. Instead it still refers to Crimea as part of Ukraine.

The offending exhibition was based on rows of globes each depicting a country taking part in EXPO- 2017. The Russia globe clearly shows that it owns the Crimean Peninsular while the Ukraine globe is bereft of its former territory.

“The festival Astana Art Fest map of Ukraine showed signs of the violation of territorial integrity,” the Ukraine embassy wrote on Facebook. “The Ukrainian side expects the Kazakh ministry of foreign affairs to clarify the action.”

The Kazakh foreign ministry has not publicly commented.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

EBRD to find solar park in Kazakhstan

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JUNE 15 2017 (The Bulletin) — The EBRD is set to finance the construction of a second solar power park in southern Kazakhstan, media reported. The EBRD will give a loan of $45m for the solar power park, the Clean Technology Fund will give $10m and the owners of the field, not named by media, will stump up another $80m. After the construction of Burnoye Solar 2, it will constitute one of the biggest solar power fields in Europe or Central Asia.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan halves Karachaganak cost expansion

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JUNE 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakh officials said that the cost of extending production at the Karachagank gas condensate field had halved. Murat Zhurebekov, chief executive of PSA LLC, a unit of state energy firm Kazmunaigas, said that the cost of boosting production at Karachagank had halved from an earlier estimate of $9b. He didn’t explain why this estimate had been reduced, although he did say that it was linked to low oil prices. Eni and Royal Dutch Shell each own 29.25% of Karachaganak. Kazmunaigas owns 10%, Chevron 18% and Lukoil 13.5%.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan does not receive special treatment over IBA debt

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JUNE 13 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank will not receive preferential treatment from Azerbaijan’s majority state-owned IBA bank when it restructures its debt, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters. Kazakhstan’s state pension fund bought $250m worth of IBA debt in 2014 just as the oil price started to fall. Earlier this year it said that it was having to restructure debt totaling $3.3b. Most creditors face losing 20% of their investments.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Road accidents cost billions in Kazakhstan

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JUNE 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Road accidents in Kazakhstan are denting its economic potential and will hold back China’s much- vaunted “One Belt, One Road” trade initiative to links East Asia with Europe via Central Asia, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies said in a new report. It estimated that traffic accidents cost Kazakhstan $9b a year, the equivalent of 4% of GDP.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Uzbekistan considers weapons purchase

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JUNE 15 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek defence minister Atabek Ibadullayev travelled to Kazakhstan to tour weapons plants in Uralsk which produce armoured vehicles and optical rifles sites. Kazakhstan’s ministry of defence then released a statement which said that although Uzbekistan hadn’t yet purchased any weapons, Mr Ibadullayev had expressed an interest. Kazakh-Uzbek military ties are improving.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Russia conducts missile test in Kazakhstan

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JUNE 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Russia’s military carried out a successful test on its new interceptor missile at the Sary-Shagan missile test site in Kazakhstan, the TASS news agency reported. Russia and Kazakhstan have boosted military cooperation over the past few years, including sharing a missile defence system. TASS quoted a Russian defence report as saying that the new missile will improve Russia’s defences.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)