Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Output falls, says Kazakh oil and gas producer

FEB. 9 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Production at Kazakhstan’s largest oil and gas producer, Karachaganak, fell by 1.4% in 2016, compared to 2015, to 139.7m barrels of oil equivalent, the consortium operating the project said. This drop highlights a general decrease in output by Kazakh oil and gas producers during a prolonged period of low prices. Projects such as Karachaganak are vital for Kazakhstan’s economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 316, published on Feb. 10 2017)

Kazakh capital to host Syrian technical ceasefire talks

FEB. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Officials from the United Nations, Russia, Turkey and Iran met in Astana to discuss the technical aspects of a ceasefire deal that they hope to impose on a civil war in Syria between President Bashar al- Assad’s forces and rebels. Astana has hosted a series of Syria ceasefire talks, the most recent in January. While the success of the talks is still open for debate, the positive PR generated by the Astana talks for Kazakhstan as a global mediator is undeniable.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 316, published on Feb. 10 2017)

Kazakh president sends Tasmagambetov to Moscow

FEB. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Until last Friday, Imangali Tasmagabtov had a sparkling CV. He was considered the consummate Kazakh insider and the man with a hotline to the president. If Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakh president since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, wanted something done, he turned to Tasmagabetov, his trusted lieutenant.

The urbane Tasmagambetov had been the Kazakh PM between 2002 and 2003; mayor of Almaty between 2004 and 2008; mayor of Astana between 2008 and 2014; defence minister from 2014 until 2016 and then a deputy PM until Feb. 3 2017. In each one of these sensitive positions, Nazarbayev personally appointed Tasmagambetov.

In Kazakhstan’s myopic politics, Tasmagambetov had even been talked of as a president-in-waiting and, if he had been given the top job, this would have come as no major surprise as his career has closely tracked that of Nazarbayev.

Now, followers of Kazakhstan’s politics will have to think again. Tasmagambetov will not be the next Kazakh president. That was made clear on Friday.

Instead, he will move to Moscow as the Kazakh ambassador to Russia, a diplomatic exile that will undermine his powerbase and take him away from the cauldron of Kazakhstan’s Astana-based politics.

It is amanoeuvre that has served Nazarbayev well. He has dispatched other powerful figures to embassies where they have been forced to watch the main action from the sidelines.

Perhaps Tasmagambetov’s error was to become too powerful and too popular. The 60-year-old had a high profile, bigger

than almost all other Kazakh politicians because of his tenureship of both the Almaty and Astana mayoral positions. He was also considered by ordinary people in Kazakhstan to be one of the most “Kazakh” of the elite, a major advantage in a country grappling with its newfound nationalism. He was popular and considered a man who got stuff done.

Kazakh politics will move on without Tasmagambetov. For now. But he is an ambitious man, born into a humble household in western Kazakhstan who still retains a sizable support-base. Don’t write off a comeback for the new Kazakh ambassador to Moscow.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Second round of Syria talks scheduled, says Kazakh ministry

FEB. 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A second round of talks focused on finding a solution to the war in Syria have been scheduled for Feb. 6, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said. The talks, with Turkey, Russia and Iran as the main powerbrokers, are a follow up to talks held last month in Astana. For Kazakhstan, the talks are a good opportunity to market itself as an arena for international deal-making.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Hackers attack Kazakh websites

ALMATY, JAN. 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hackers attacked 21 Kazakh government websites, the ministry of information said, raising concerns over the state’s cyber security.

The sites were attacked on Jan. 28. The ministry blamed the servers that hosted the websites but IT expert said the vulnerability of government websites was a well-known problem.

In a press statement, the Kazakh information ministry said: “These [hacking] cases happened because of an absence of control from the owners of internet resources who did not update the systems in time, proper protection, identification of the incident and signing a contract with unreliable clients.”

Arman Abdrasilov, a Kazakh cyber security expert, said that the hacking had been far wider than just the government websites. He said that, in total, 323 websites had been attacked.

He told The Conway Bulletin that government websites are regularly attacked but that the government covers the hacks.

“Twenty-one sites at once. It says that this is a systematic mistake and links back to the government’s attitude in general. We’ve been raising the [vulnerability] questions for at least three years,” Mr Abdrasilov said.

“Security of the whole system is equal to the security of its weakest part.”

The next day (Jan.31), Nazarbayev talked about cyber security threats in his annual state-of-the-nation address. He ordered security services to boost their various defences.

The hacked websites included the north Kazakhstan regional government website and the natural resources department in the Almaty city government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kazakh bank says KKB needs to shed bad assets

JAN. 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Halyk Bank CEO Umut Shayakhmetova told the Forbes Kazakhstan website that for talks on a merger with Kazkommertsbank to continue, Kazkommertsbank needed to deal with a pile of bad debt it had acquired after taking over BTA Bank in 2014/15. A deal between Halyk Bank, which is owned by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s son-in-law and daughter, would create a banking giant in Kazakhstan that will dominate the banking sector.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kazakh central banker wants to support banks

FEB. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank chief Daniyer Akishev said that he wanted to use state funds to prop up big banks that are listing under the pressure of an economic downturn linked to a drop in oil and gas prices and a recession in Russia. He told a government meeting that the Central Bank was going to evaluate the quality of the banks’ assets later this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kazakh president makes speech

JAN. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev made his second televised address to the nation in less than a week in which he promised to improve the country’s economy. The speech was short on detail and instead sounded like a to- do list. It had been billed as a follow- up to a speech last week in which Mr Nazarbayev said that he wanted to increase democratic reforms in Kazakhstan. He did talk about strengthening cyber security and adopting a new subsoil law.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kazakhstan to block unregistered phones

FEB. 2 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — A new law means that all unregistered mobile phones in Kazakhstan will be blocked from July 1 2017. The authorities say that the new law has been brought in to help fight potential terrorists but its detractors have said that it has been imposed to help the authorities monitor people who oppose the government more closely.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)

Kazakh president demotes former ally

FEB. 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> How significant is Imangali Tasmagambetov’s shift from central government to Moscow as ambassador?

>> Very. He was considered one of just a handful of people who could take over from Nursultan Nazarbayev as president. This is a major demotion and has come as a surprise. Like a chess player, Nazarbayev is clearly manoeuvring his pieces so that he can execute a well-managed and orderly transfer of power. Last month he said that he wanted to give parliament more power. It was dressed up as a move to increase democracy, although most analysts think that this is a red herring and that the real motivator is transition.

>> So who will really benefit from Tasmagambetov’s move to Moscow?

>> That’s not exactly clear, although Nazarbayev’s daughter, Dariga, is being teed up nicely for a major role in government. She has taken on a bigger public role and since September 2016 has been a Senator and the chair of the Senate’s Affairs, Defence, and Security Committee. It’s our view that this is a way to prepare and groom Dariga for the top job. Essentially, by packing Tasmagambetov off to Moscow, Nazarbayev has dispatched one of her rivals.

>> I see. But are you sure that being the Kazakh ambassador in Moscow is a major demotion?

>> Yes. All the major policy-making goes on in Astana. Tasmagambetov is now marooned in Moscow away from the centre of power in Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev also has form for sending high-ranking men, who have their own powerbase that may threaten his plans, into exile. In 2014, he sent Aslan Musin to Zagreb to be the Kazakh ambassador there. Musin had previously been head of the Presidential Administration between 2008 and 2012 and had a strong powerbase in the west of the country, where he was from.

>> Got it. Why would Tasmagambetov appear to have threatened Nazarbayev?

>> We don’t know the specifics but Tasmagambetov is popular with ordinary people. He is seen as being more “Kazakh” than many of the other elite insiders. He also has a high profile. This is partly because he was a popular mayor of Almaty and Astana. His son-in-law is Kenes Rakishev who has been used heavily by the Kazakh elite as the frontman for buying up various companies. His latest acquisition was a majority stake in Kazakhstan’s biggest bank, Kazkommertsbank.

>> But now he is going to disappear from public view. Is that right?

>> Pretty much. People just wont see or hear of him in his new job. He’ll also be away from the political action in Astana which is important.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 315, published on Feb. 3 2017)