Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

Editorial: Kazakh coup charge

JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — If the Kazakh authorities are to be believed Tokhtar Tuleshov, a millionaire Kazakh who owns a major brewery in Shymkent, organised a series of protests across the country in April and May to try to incite a revolution.

He did this, apparently, while in jail. Mr Tuleshov has been in pre-trial detention since the end of January when he was arrested for alleged drug and gun running offences.

And he apparently picked Atyrau, a town hundreds of kilometres away near the Caspian Sea, to kick-start his coup attempt before organising protests in other cities.

These charges lack credibility. How could Mr Tuleshov have organised these demonstrations from his prison cell? Would Mr Tuleshov even have had the influence to organise a rally in Atyrau in mid-April? He has strong local support in Shymkent but this support is unlikely to spread to Atyrau.

It’s plausible that disgruntled members of the Kazakh elite may have organised the initial protests in Atyrau against land reforms that spread but the government needs to present more evidence to back this up.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Expobank buys Kazakh RBS

JUNE 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian lender Expobank, owned by Igor Kim, agreed to buy the Kazakhstan-based subsidiary of Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland. Earlier this year, Mr Kim bought RBS’s Russian subsidiary. Orifzhan Shadiyev, owner of Capital Bank Kazakhstan, had, in March 2015, expressed an interest in buying RBS Kazakhstan although the deal later fell through.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

UN criticises Kazakh labour law

JUNE 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The UN’s International Labour Organisation said that Kazakhstan has made little progress in implementing international standards in its labour legislation. In particular, the committee urged the government to amend the 2014 law on trade unions and the 2015 law on the chamber of entrepreneurs, which restrict workers’ freedom and independence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Editorial: Attacks in Aktobe

JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh officials have been quick to blame Islamic militants for a series of attacks in Aktobe, northwest Kazakhstan, that killed at least 25 people.

This, if proved, would be alarming as it would confirm links in west Kazakhstan with Islamic militants in both the North Caucasus and Syria/Iraq. The Islamic militant explanation, though, would also help President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s narrative. He made it clear that if the Kazakh population didn’t support him they would be faced with a dystopian future.

And this version of events, of course, could be accurate, time will tell. But no group has taken responsibility and there is an alternative explanation.

Some analysts have said that the attacks were organised by disgruntled members of the Kazakh elite. Mr Nazarbayev, 75, is looking weak. He hasn’t organised a clear succession and is presiding over a worsening economy. By destabilising the country, a rival would be piling on the pressure.

This is the alternative explanation for the Aktobe attacks that the gov- ernment doesn’t want discussed.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Stock market: Central Asia Metals share price prospects

JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Analysts in London are positive about copper producer Central Asia Metals, despite its shares hitting 144.5p, the lowest level in four months, on Thursday. It had traded at a high of around 170p.

Canaccord Genuity set a price target of 190p, in line with the majority of analysts who rate it a “buy”.

Central Asia Metals is a Kazakhstan-based copper producer, which had recently seen its share price rise after announcing positive results for 2015 and saying that its ambitious expansion was on schedule. Kenes Rakishev, a powerful Kazakh businessman and son-in-law of defence minister Imangali Tasmagambetov, is Central Asia Metals’ largest shareholder with 19%.

Other shareholders own 10% or less in the company. Mr Rakishev has actively diversified his investment portfolio in recent years buying Kazakhstan’s largest bank, Kazkommertsbank, and acquiring a minority stake in a discount retail chain.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Kazakhstan signs military deals with Russia

JUNE 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In three separate deals, Kazakhstan bought a range of military kit. State-owned Russian Helicopters signed an agreement with the ministry of interior to supply helicopters until 2020. Days later, the Russian defence ministry said it would supply Kazakhstan with anti- aircraft missiles for free. In addition, China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Company sold two combat and reconnaissance drones to Kazakhstan’s Air Force, the company’s first sale in Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Kazakh charity sector adapts to downturn

ASTANA, JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Like other charities in Kazakhstan, the Astana-based Aspan Arystany, which translates as Celestial Lion, has had to adapt to survive a sharp economic downturn that has both reduced donations and increased demand for its services.

Importantly, this is a side of the economic downturn that the Kazakh government doesn’t particularly want you to see. Where the state is failing to provide a safety net for people during the economic downturn, the private sector has stepped in.

As a response to the economic downturn, Zhaniya Shaukenova, Aspan Arystany’s director, told the Conway Bulletin in an interview how they had developed a scheme for women to earn money through sewing.

“Our fund was hit hard by the crisis because donations, membership fees decreased and were not constant. Everybody had difficulties with finances. And then, we had an idea,” Ms Shaukenova said.

As the economy slowed down unemployment rates rose and many women, mostly mothers from socially vulnerable groups, found it difficult to financially support themselves.

And so they turned to charities like Aspan Arystany.

In January, the charity set up a new scheme called Aspan Home.

The main idea of this social entrepreneurship project is to help single mothers to earn money by sewing clothes and selling them through different fairs or local fashion shows.

Ms Shaukenova said they started slowly, initial capital was just 100, 000 tenge ($302) which grew after women proved that they could cover their costs and turn a profit. Some of the mothers were disabled, or had disabled children, so most of them work from home.

Currently, there are four mothers working in Aspan Home and they are already making money to support their families.

Roza Karayeva, a mother of four children and one of the women working in the project, said that it had helped her recover after losing her job as a Kazakh teacher.

“I was sitting home without job for one year,” she said. “I like this job, I sew many dresses and earn money.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Kazakhstan oilfield output to fall

JUNE 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tengizchevroil (TCO), an international consortium operating the Tengiz oilfield in western Kazakhstan, said it will produce 26.4m tonnes of oil in 2016, 2.8% lower than last year. Chevron-led TCO didn’t give a reason for the drop in production. Tengiz is Kazakhstan’s most productive oil field, though, and a drop in its production is likely to have an impact on Kazakh government earnings.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Kazakh court releases former mayor of Karaganda on parole

JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Kazakhstan released on parole Baurzhan Abdishev, the former akim (mayor) of Karaganda in central Kazakhstan. Abdishev was arrested in September 2014 on charges of abuse of power and participation in organised crime. Earlier in May, a Kazakh judge had proposed that Abdishev serve the remainder of his 5-year sentence in his house in Astana.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Gunmen target Kazakhstan

ALMATY, JUNE 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — An estimated two dozen gunmen attacked two arms shops and a police post in Aktobe, northwest Kazakhstan, killing at least six people, attacks that Kazakh officials quickly linked to Islamic militants.

Four gunman were also killed in the initial attacks and another 14 were killed over the next four days as security forces hunted the group.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev called a national day of mourning for June 9 and ordered security forces across the country to mobilise to a high level of alert.

“According to the information that we possess, this terrorist act was organised by supporters of radical pseudo-religious movements. They received their instructions from abroad,” he said in a statement on June 8. Kazakh authorities have previously used this terminology as code for Islamic militants.

These are the worst attacks in Kazakhstan’s 25 years of independence from the Soviet Union. They also come at a highly sensitive time with the economy performing poorly mainly because of low oil prices and unrest growing amongst ordinary Kazakhs. There is also a growing sense of unease that Mr Nazarbayev hasn’t effectively organised a succession, creating a potential leadership vacuum.

There have been no claims of responsibility from any groups for the attacks. Mr Nazarbayev blamed the attacks on people who wanted to destabilise the government.

“In countries where these revolutions succeeded, there is no longer a working state and stability, only rampant poverty and banditry that create conditions for the emergence of extremists and terrorists,” he said.

If confirmed that Islamic militants were behind the attacks, this will be Mr Nazarbayev’s worst nightmare. Security forces have been worried for at least half a decade that Islamic militant recruitment in the west of the country, which has a high proportion of frustrated young men, was rising. Links have developed between the anti-Russia insurgency in the North Caucasus and west Kazakhstan and also between the radical group ISIS in Iraq and Syria and Kazakhstan.

Some analysts have said, though, that the attackers may have been organised from within by disgruntled members of the Kazakh elite who want to destabilise the government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)