Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakh state energy producer to boost investments

APRIL 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a clear sign of renewed confidence that oil prices will stay at around $50-55/barrel, KMG EP, the London-listed division of the Kazakh state energy producer Kazmunaigas said that it was going to raise its capital expenditure by 12% to 133b tenge ($369m). The company said that the extra investment would be used to improve the efficiency of existing projects.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

Kookmin sells 42% stake in Kazakhstan’s CenterCredit

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ALMATY, APRIL 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korea’s Kookmin Bank sold its remaining 41.93% stake in Bank CenterCredit to Bakhytbek Baiseitov’s Tsenabank, bringing to an end its unhappy nine year foray into the Kazakh banking sector.

Kookmin’s retreat from Kazakhstan also highlights just how foreign banks have struggled in the Kazakh banking sector. The 2008/9 Global Financial Crisis inflated Kazakh banks’ bad debt portfolios turning what had looked like an attractive market to foreign investors into a headache virtually overnight.

A short note released on the Kazakh Stock Exchange by Center- Credit didn’t give much way accept to confirm the sale. Earlier this year, Tsenabank said it would buy up all of Kookmin Bank’s stake. In March it also confirmed that Mr Baiseitov, one of Kazakhstan’s richest people, had bought a 10% stake from the IFC, part of the World Bank. The IFC had always intended to sell its stake, bought in 2010, by 2017.

There was no statement from Kookmin which has been looking to sell its stake in CenterCredit almost as soon as it bought it.

Kookmin’s timing was initially poor. It bought a 30% stake in CenterCredit from Mr Baiseitov, who set up the bank, in March 2008 for $500m. By August 2008 the Global Financial Crisis had virtually wiped out its investment. The devaluation of the Kazakh tenge in 2015 also hit the bank, forcing Kookmin to write- down its value again. The 2008 deal to buy into CenterCredit had been part of a now globalisation push by Kookmin. It forced the resignation in 2010 of then-CEO Kang Chung-won.

Other foreign banks which have invested in Kazakhstan only to pull out a few years later include Britain’s HSBC and Italy’s Unicredit.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

Kazakh court cuts journalist’s sentence

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APRIL 18 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The former head of Kazakhstan’s journalist union, Seitqazy Mataev, has had his sentence for embezzlement and tax evasion cut to 2 years and 8 months from the 6 years he was given in October. Media reports said that the sentence cut was granted to Mataev in December in a presidential amnesty.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)

Kazakhstan to persuade Syrian rebels at peace talks

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APRIL 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said that it is working with Iran, Russia and Turkey to persuade Syrian rebels to attend peace talks scheduled for next month in Astana. Talks last month were stunted because the rebel faction pulled out at the last minute. The fourth round of Syria peace talks in Astana comes as tension between the opposing sides hits new highs. Rebels have accused the Syrian government of dropping chemical bombs on a town, killing dozens of civilians. The Syrian government and its Russian allies deny the charges.

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(News report from Issue No. 325, published on April 17 2017)f

Capital Bank in Kazakhstan appoints new chairman

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APRIL 12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan-based Capital bank promoted Bakhtiyar Ilyasov to be chairman, replacing Ghani Uzbekov. He had previously been the bank’s deputy chairman. In a note, the bank said that Mr Ilyasov would oversee the merger with Tengri bank, announced in March.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh nuclear company signs deal with Areva

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APRIL 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s state-owned nuclear company Kazatomprom signed a deal with France’s Areva to strengthen their partnership, an agreement which they said would see them working together for another 20 years. The two companies have worked together since 1996 on their Katco JV.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Currencies: Kazakh Tenge

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh Tenge continues its upword trajectory this year and is now threatening to break through the psychologically important 310/$1 barrier.

It last breached this level at the beginning of December 2015, during the second devaluation of the year. After 310/$1 barrier is broken, analysts are confident that with oil pushing past $55/Barrel and the macro-economic picture improving, that it is only a matter of time before the next important level of 300 tenge/$1 is also breached.

It barely registered in October 2015 when the tenge fell past this level. Overnight on Oct. 10/11 2015, the tenge fell from 280/$1 to 307.5/$1. It kept falling in value as oil prices fell and by Jan. 22 2016 was valued at 381/$1. Since then, oil has improved from under $30/barrel, helping the economy to heal and pushing the value of the tenge up by 18.3% to 311.9/$1.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh court jails labour union leader

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APRIL 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Astana found union leader Nurbek Kushakbayev, guilty of organising an illegal strike in January and sentenced him to 2-1⁄2 years in prison. His supporters say the sentence is harsh and that the court was being politicised. Kushakbayev had been deputy chairman of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions which was closed on the orders of a court in Shymkent. The government has been trying to curtail the power of the trade unions.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakhstan calls for chemical attack investigation

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan, currently a non- permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the host of talks on the Syrian civil war attended by Russia, Iran, Turkey and various Syrian factions called for an independent investigation into allegations that Syrian forces dropped chemical bombs onto a town in the south of the country at the start of the month. Syria, backed by its ally Russia, has denied the accusations.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Kazakh eyes a change of alphabet

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APRIL 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> I heat that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants to switch the alphabet that the Kazakh language uses to Latin from Cyrillic. Why is that? Is this part of his drive towards the West?

>> What drive towards the West? You can hardly accuse Nazarbayev of trying to cosy up to the West at the detriment of relations with Russia and China. Some media have indeed reported that this push to switch Kazakh to Latin alphabet by 2025 is part of a plot by Nazarbayev to become more Western. I don’t think that this is case, though.

>> So why make this big change?

>> It is a big change, that’s for sure, but it’s been talked about for years. Turkic languages also flow more naturally using the Latin alphabet. Cyrillic was forced on Kazakhstan by the Soviets. Kazakh was originally mainly an oral language spoken by the nomadic tribes of the steppe but as the people became more settled it adopted organised alphabets and scripts. This was, first, Arabic script when Islam was introduced into Central Asia during the time the region was the centre of the Silk Road. By the 19th century, the written form of Kazakh had grown in popularity, thanks mainly to the national poet Abai Qunanbaiuli, considered the father of the modern Kazakh language. He wrote in Arabic script. It was under the Soviet Union, though, with its sweeping collectivisation, that Kazakh was forced to adopt the Cyrillic alphabet.

>> Okay but if Nazarbayev isn’t trying to court the West with this move, why has he made it?

>> Latin has already been adopted by most other Turkic languages, including Turkish, Turkmen and Uzbek. Kyrgyz still uses Cyrillic. The switch to a Latin script makes sense for the Kazakh language in terms of ease of use and also matching up with the other main Turkic languages. It is not a geopolitical plot to move closer to the West.

>> What do ordinary Kazakhs think about the proposed switch to the Latin Alphabet?

>> Generally, they are positive about it. Kazakh has become more prevalent over the past 15 years or so. At the turn of the millennium, Russian was dominant in Almaty, now Kazakh is. By aligning Kazakh with other Turkic languages, Nazarbayev will be playing to this domestic audience.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)