Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Kazakh President wants new housing deal

ALMATY, SEPT. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s government adopted a new programme to improve access to housing, in an effort to curb protests against proposed land reforms that swept the country earlier this year.

The new programme, called Nurly Zher (‘Bright Land’), will, it is planned, put into action plans laid out in 2003 to give 1,000 square metres of land to every Kazakh citizen.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev told ministers at a government meeting that without infrastructure, the land parcels would be useless to people.

“We told people we would give them 1,000 square metres to build houses. Now people demand this land. But across our vast steppe there are no roads, electricity, water and heat infrastructure,” Mr Nazarbayev said.

Kazakhstan is the ninth biggest country in the world but has a population of just 17m people.

The Nurly Zher programme will spend $71m building infrastructure — roads, water, electricity — to try and attract development.

It has also said that it will subsidise the building of new housing by up to 30% and ensure that banks give cheap loans out to developers.

But it also drew criticism from people who said that Mr Nazarbayev had diluted the original plan.

“Through this program we will finally have infrastructure for lands. However, people will now be forced to buy houses with mortgages despite the fact that the land is free,” said Daniyar Kankozha, an IT worker.

Land reform and housing are sensitive issues in Kazakhstan. Earlier this year, protests spread around the country after plans were unveiled that would have given foreigners
more rights to own land.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Pakistani police arrests Kazakhs

SEPT. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pakistan’s police arrested two Kazakhs for violating their visa conditions, as they had overstayed their permits after joining an Islamic school linked to Tablighi Jamaat. Tablighi Jamaat is banned in Kazakhstan and considered an extremist organisation. Tablighi Jamaat schools span India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Kazakhstan creates new ministry

SEPT. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A presidential decree connected to the recent reshuffle in the Kazakh government established the ministry of religious affairs and civil society, headed by Nurlan Yermekbayev. Mr Yermekbayev, former aide to the president and secretary of the Security Council, pledged to foster inter-religious dialogue. Analysts have criticised the creation of the new ministry as a new instrument to control society.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

China connects with AF through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

SEPT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The first rail freight from China arrived in Afghanistan via Central Asia, potentially opening up a new trade route. China has tried to create interconnected transport infrastructure in Central Asia to promote alternatives to sea shipping. The railway linking China and Afghanistan also crosses Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for a total length of 7,500 km.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Kazakh president enjoys his G20 visit to China

ASTANA, SEPT. 4/5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — China handed Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev an A-grade PR opportunity when he attended the G20 summit, as a guest, in Hangzhou.

Not only was his press team able to release a series of photos of Mr Nazarbayev meeting other global leaders such as US President Barack Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but China positioned him at the centre of the standard G20 team photo, directly behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The positioning of leaders at the team photo is important and underscores the regard that the hosts hold each leader in.

It is usual for the G20 host to invite allies to the meeting of the world’s top global leaders as guests but unusual to position them so prominently in the team photo.

And for Mr Nazarbayev, this sort of opportunity is PR gold dust. He clearly enjoyed the occasion too with his official photographer releasing photos of him laughing with Mr Obama and other leaders.

Other invited guests were the leaders of Egypt, Singapore, Thailand, Spain, Chad (representing the African Union), Senegal (representing the New Partnership for African Development) and Laos (representing South-East Asia countries).

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Succession speculation stirs in Kazakhstan after reshuffle

ASTANA, SEPT. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev shifted Karim Massimov, one of his closest allies, from PM to head the country’s security services, an unexpected reshuffle that may prepare the way for a more significant promotion linked to his succession plans.

Bakhytzhan Sagintayev, previously a deputy PM, was appointed interim PM but he is likely to make way when Mr Nazarbayev proposes a new PM to parliament, which MPs will then rubber-stamp.

Dariga Nazarbayeva, Mr Nazarbayev’s daughter, who was named deputy PM one year ago is touted as a potential new PM and possible next president. Analysts have discussed other high-profile Kazakh officials but she is considered a front runner. Mr Nazarbayev is 76-years-old and his apparent lack of a succession plan was highlighted by the unexpected death this month of Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s president.

Mr Massimov had served for the second time as Kazakh PM since April 2014. His move to the head the security services will help Mr Nazarbayev maintain his authority over the apparatus, considered essential for maintaining control over the country. Vladimir Zhumakanov, who had been head of the Security Service since December 2015, was appointed advisor to the president.

Mr Sagintayev, the interim PM, is a career bureaucrat who had been head of the Zhambyl region before becoming, briefly, in 2012 and 2013 Kazakhstan’s economy minister and then a deputy PM.

He is clearly trusted and was appointed head of the Kazakh atomic agency in 2015 after the death of one of Mr Nazarbayev’s favourites, Nurlan Kapparov.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Kazakh court starts Tuleshov’s trial

SEPT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The military court in Astana started the trial of Kazakh businessmanTokhtar Tuleshov, arrested in January on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Tuleshov, who owns a beer factory in the southern city of Shymkent, was said to be behind the protests against the land reform in Kazakhstan, which mushroomed in several Kazakh cities in the spring.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 296, published on Sept. 16 2016)

Samsung cancels Kazakh power plant deal

ALMATY, SEPT. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korea’s Samsung pulled out of a $2.5b deal with Kazakhstan to build a coal-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the south of the country because of the low oil prices.

A collapse in oil prices since 2014 has hit Kazakhstan’s finances hard, forcing the government to cancel projects. Although there has been no response from the Kazakh government, the inference from Samsung’s statement is that it was worried that Kazakhstan would not be able to buy as much electricity as they had agreed.

“Samsung C&T exercised the put option regarding all of its Balkhash thermal power plant shares, 50% plus one share,” the company said in a statement. “[This] is a demand for Samruk Energy to acquire all the shares within 60 days from the date of notice for $192.5m.”

Samsung stopped construction work on the power plant 12 months ago after a disagreement with the Kazakh government over the agreed price it would pay for buying electricity from the plant, the first indicator that the deal may be running into serious trouble.

For Kazakhstan, Samsung’s decision to cancel the contract is a blow for two reasons — it is damaging for Kazakhstan’s reputation as a place to do business and also places further pressure on its current Soviet-era energy production system. Demand for electricity has been booming because of rising population and living standards. The Balkhash power plant had been considered essential for maintaining Kazakhstan’s power production.

In January, another South Korean company, LG Chem, dropped its plans to build a $4.2b petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan due to sustained low oil prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 294, published on Sept. 2 2016)

Kazakh president to visit Japan

AUG. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will visit Japan in November, foreign minister Yerlan Idrissov told Interfax after meeting a Japanese parliamentary delegation in Astana. The Japanese and Kazakh sides also discussed joint industrial projects for the next two years. Mr Nazarbayev has been eager to woo potential foreign investors, especially during this economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 294, published on Sept. 2 2016)

Kazmunaigas to stop takeover efforts on KMG EP

AUG. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — After a failed takeover offer, Kazmunaigas will not make a new offer for its London-traded subsidiary KMG EP, Sauat Mynbayev, managing director of Kazmunaigas said. Kazmunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company owns 63% of KMG EP, its exploration and production subsidiary. In July, Kazmunaigas had offered $9/GDR to KMG EP minority shareholders, but minority shareholders rejected the offer, dealing a blow to the Kazakh energy company’s prestige.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 294, published on Sept. 2 2016)