Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Hungary’s Wizz Air to fly budget flights to Kazakhstan

ALMATY, APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it would open a route from Budapest to Astana, making it the first European budget airline to fly to Kazakhstan.

The first flight will take off from Budapest on June 8, the Wizz Air website said, and the starting price of a one-way ticket will be 40 euros.

The accouchement of the new route, which has been the subject of negotiations since last year, was greeted with excitement by young Kazakhs who want easier access to Europe.

“I think it is a very good news because due to our geographical location it is not that easy to reach Europe and tickets are quite expensive, especially after devaluation (of the tenge in 2015),” said Sabina Serikova, 29, communication specialist. “And now, I think, every working person and even student can afford to go to Europe.”

In a statement, Wizz Air said it would fly twice a week to Astana. It also referenced Astana’s EXPO-2017 exhibition, also opening in June, as a reason to visit the Kazakh capital.

“Connecting the capitals of Hungary and Kazakhstan, we expect this service to significantly contribute to the development of economic and business relations between the two countries and we also believe that our low fares will attract a large number of visitors to both cities stimulating tourism and hospitality industries,” the statement quoted Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi.

Wizz Air, which sees itself as a pan-Central Europe airline, is fast establishing itself as the European airline that best serves the region. It already flies to Kutaisi and Baku.

By comparison, British Airways has cut all its routes to the region over the past few years although other European airlines, Lufthansa and KLM, have retained theirs.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Kazakhstan-focused oil producer posts 47% revenue fall

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APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tethys, the embattled London- listed oil producer with interests in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Georgia, said that its revenues from oil and gas sales had fallen by 47% in 2016 to $11.7m. It said that the drop was due to a fall in production and a devaluation of the tenge in the second half of 2015. Tethys sells most of its oil in Kazakhstan’s domestic market.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

First shipment from Kazakhstan arrives in Baku

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MARCH 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The first shipment of goods from Kazakhstan’s new Kuryk port on the Caspian Sea reached Baku on March 24, a specialist shipping website reported. The port was commissioned in 2014 when the Kazakh economy was looking stronger than it is now. Kuryk is significantly closer to Baku than Aktau, Kazakhstan’s main Caspian Sea port. The freight ship took 18 hours to reach Baku, rather than the normal 22 hours.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Kazakh president visits Aliyev

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APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev flew to Baku for talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev that focused on boosting trade between the two Caspian Sea allies. No treaties or deals were signed but people at the meeting said that there the rapport between the two men had been good, laying the foundations for stronger ties.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Kazakh C.Bank chief becomes director of IDB

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MARCH 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kariat Kelimbetov, the former Kazakh Central Bank chief who is now heading the development of the Astana International Finance Centre, has been appointed Kazakhstan’s representative on the board of directors at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The IDB’s main agenda is to promote projects which adhere to Sharia laws. Islamic finance is growing in popularity in Kazakhstan and the wider Central Asia region.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Stock Market: Tethys, Centerra Gold

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APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shares in oil producer Tethys traded up at 1.73% on Monday despite full year results showing that its revenues from oil and gas sales had fallen by 47% to $11.7m.

It blamed the drop in revenue on the devaluation of the tenge in the second half of 2015 and a drop in oil output. Tethys sells most of its production on the domestic Kazakh market.

Despite the drop in revenues, Tethys said that its losses for 2016 were actually smaller than its losses in 2015, perhaps driving the price up 26% on the London Stock Exchange. Tethys if one of the region’s most illiquid stocks.

Most of the savings came in tight cost-cutting in administrative issues. It said that losses for 2016 were $46.9m compared to $74.6m in 2015. Tethys is pulling out of a project with China’s CNPC and France’s Total in Tajikistan because it couldn’t keep up with its call payments. It is also locked in a commercial dispute in Kazakhstan which has meant that the bank accounts of its subsidiary have been frozen.

Despite hitting a 6-month high of C$7.65, analysts have been lining up to give Centerra Gold’s stock a hefty ‘buy’ rating.

CIBC gave it a target rating of C$10 this year and CSFB went even further with a rating of C$10.25. The consensus target price is C$8.08.

The buy ratings appear to be based on strong gold prices which are enough to shrug off Centerra Gold’s spat with the Kyrgyz authorities. Kyrgyzstan wants a direct stake in the Kumtor gold mine, its largest industrial asset, which is wholly owned by Centerra Gold. Instead it currently holds a 32.7%% stake in Centerra Gold.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Housing scheme kicks off boom in Kazakhstan

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MARCH 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the first two months of the year, 18,000 new apartments were built in Kazakhstan, a 23% increase on the same period in 2016, media reported quoting official statistics. The increase is driven by the government housing building scheme unveiled last year called Nurly Zher. The scheme is part- political, part-economic in its aims which are to build homes for 1.5m families over the next 15 years and also to lift the country’s flatlining economy.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Condor restarts oil wells in Kazakhstan

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MARCH 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Canada-based Condor Petroleum resumed production at its oil wells in Kazakhstan in the second half of last year, it said in a full-year trading update, around 15 months after it cut production because oil prices had dropped too low to make it economical. Combined output from these two fields, Shoba and Taskuduk, is tiny at 588 barrels per day but it does indicate a renewed confidence in the Kazakh oil sector. Also in Kazakhstan, Condor has applied to extend its exploration licence over the Zharkamys exploration area which officially expired at the end of last year.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Stock Market: Nostrum

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MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nostrum, the London-listed oil company with assets in Kazakhstan, saw its share price fall 11% to 416p, its lowest price since the start of the year, after full year results for 2016 showed a sharp fall in revenues.

It said that revenue was down by $100m to $348m because of sustained low oil prices. Its chairman, Frank Monstrey, said that 2016 had been one of the most difficult years on record although cost cutting had reduced losses.

“Nostrum has not wavered during one of the most challenging years for the oil and gas industry in over a decade,” he was quoted as saying by media. “We have navigated 2016 with caution and great care to ensure our vision remains intact.”

Nostrum has been one of the best performing Central Asia/South Caucasus stocks this year, surging to an 18-month high of 518p at the start of March.

A drop in oil prices and the tough trading figures from 2016 put a dampener on this buy analysts are still backing it.

Brokerage Credit Suisse gave the Nostrum stock an ‘outperform’ rating with a target price of 535p for this year.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Kazakhstan says wants to build its own regional Ease of Doing Business index

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ALMATY, MARCH 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to ape the World Bank’s global ‘Ease of Doing Business’ survey, Kazakh officials said they wanted to set up a regional version covering all of Kazakhstan.

The survey will measure how difficult, or easy, Kazakh and foreign companies find it to do business in Kazakhstan’s regions, providing data for investors and the government.

Serzhan Madiyev, head of the state-linked Economic Research Institute said that the index had been ordered by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“We provide recommendations to the government on what needs to be done to raise the position in this rating every year,” he told the state- owned Astana Times newspaper. “It

is very important for attracting foreign investments.”

Kazakhstan has been looking to attract more investors, and its ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking by the World Bank has improved. In 2017, it was ranked in 35th position. The World Bank survey, though, doesn’t measure corruption, one of the main grudges that foreign investors have.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)