Kazakhstan Sweep 100622

Kazakhstan Sweep 100622

Summary

• Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan's second-largest lender by assets, said on June 22 it has returned a three-year deposit of 60 billion tenge ($408 million) to state welfare fund Samruk-Kazyna ahead of schedule.
• Kazakhstan is considering the introduction of a $20 per tonne export duty on crude oil, Finance Minister BolatZhamishev said on June 22.
• Police forced leading members of the Kazakh opposition Azat Social Democratic Party to leave the central Kazakh town of Qarqaraly where they went to meet with supporters, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on June 21. Party co-chairman BolatAbilov and party presidium members BaltashTursumbaev and TokhtarAubakirov arrived in Qarqaraly, in Qaraghandy Oblast, on June 20 to meet with about 100 local activists. But when they arrived in the city center police apparently tried to detain Abilov, prompting a scuffle between officers and party activists. Abilov and his colleagues then left the city.
• The European Union will provide financing to support the judicial and legal reform in Kazakhstan. "The EU will give 3.4 million euro for a three-year project to improve the judicial system. The project will have three directions: development of legal expertise, support of the institution of defense lawyers and increasing efficiency of the criminal justice system," said the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan Marat Beketayev at a press conference on June 22.
• Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, charged defaulted AO Astana Finance’s former Chairman KintalIslamov and former Chief Executive Officer ArturAkhmetov with theft, the NSC reported on June 22.
• The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has commissioned a new 130-kilometer section of the main oil pipeline from Tengiz Pumping Station. The pipeline was designed and built as a safer alternative to a 116-kilometer section built in 1991, which was often damaged by heavy floods, trend.az reported on June 22.
• A group of convicts escaped from a maximum-security prison in western Kazakhstan on June 22, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on June 22. Kazakh Interior Ministry spokesman GhalymzhanQasenov told RFE/RL that several prisoners escaped from the GM 172/1 maximum-security labor camp in Manghystau Oblast early this morning. Qasenov provided no other details.

Kazakh bank Halyk repays $408 mln in govt support

ALMATY

Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:25am EDT

ALMATY June 22 (Reuters) - Halyk Bank HSBK.KZ (HSBKq.L), Kazakhstan's second-largest lender by assets, said on Tuesday it has returned a three-year deposit of 60 billion tenge ($408 million) to state welfare fund Samruk-Kazyna ahead of schedule.

Kazakhstan, one of the earliest victims of the global economic crisis, has allocated about $20 billion since 2007 to bail out banks, finance unfinished construction projects and help other sectors hit by the downturn.

Halyk said the deposit was placed in January 2009 as part of a government programme to finance and refinance projects in the real economy, and was thus returned 18 months ahead of schedule.

Halyk said the money allocated by Samruk-Kazyna had helped it finance projects and refinance debts in areas such as food production, chemicals, manufacturing, healthcare and construction.

It said the early return of the deposit would not have any negative effect on outstanding loans granted earlier within the government's stabilisationprogramme.

Halyk posted a 9 percent rise in net profit last year. (Writing by Robin Paxton; Editing by Dan Lalor)

Kazakhstan mulls $20/tonne oil export duty

Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:23am GMT

ASTANA June 22 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan is considering the introduction of a $20 per tonne export duty on crude oil, Finance Minister BolatZhamishev said on Tuesday.

"This would be a fixed rate," he told reporters.

Kazakhstan set its crude oil export duty to zero in January 2009 as global oil prices plunged. (Reporting by RaushanNurshayeva, writing by Robin Paxton)

Kazakh Opposition Leaders Forced To Leave Town

June 21, 2010

QARQARALY, Kazakhstan -- Police forced leading members of the Kazakh opposition Azat Social Democratic Party to leave the central Kazakh town of Qarqaraly where they went to meet with supporters, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Party co-chairman BolatAbilov and party presidium members BaltashTursumbaev and TokhtarAubakirov arrived in Qarqaraly, in Qaraghandy Oblast, on June 20 to meet with about 100 local activists.

But when they arrived in the city center police apparently tried to detain Abilov, prompting a scuffle between officers and party activists. Abilov and his colleagues then left the city.

The incident took place on the street named after Aubakirov, who is Kazakhstan's first cosmonaut and has been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Kazakhstan awards.

Aubakirov, 63, said police did not give a reason for their actions. He after the incident that he never thought authorities in his hometown would meet him as an enemy on the street renamed in his honor.

"There was a time when local authorities were more than happy to greet me here and crowds of people gathered here to say hello," he said. "It is a shame and pity that things are so different now."

Aubakirov was born in Qarqaraly and the street was named after him to commemorate his first flight into orbit on October 2, 1991. He joined the opposition Azat Social Democratic Party and became a member of its presidium last year.

EU gives 3.4 million euro to improve Kazakhstan's justice system

Astana. June 22. Interfax-Kazakhstan - The European Union will provide financing to support the judicial and legal reform in Kazakhstan.

"The EU will give 3.4 million euro for a three-year project to improve the judicial system. The project will have three directions: development of legal expertise, support of the institution of defense lawyers and increasing efficiency of the criminal justice system," said the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan Marat Beketayev at a press conference on Tuesday in Astana.

The funds will be managed by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan. The project is scheduled until October 2012.

"The project aims at promoting best international practices, strengthening the institution of advocates and increasing efficiency of government institutions in judicial system,” said the head of the EU office in Kazakhstan Norbert Jousten.

Kazakhstan Charges Astana Finance Former Executives With Theft

June 22, 2010, 3:37 AM EDT

By NarimanGizitdinov

June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, charged defaulted AO Astana Finance’s former Chairman KintalIslamov and former Chief Executive Officer ArturAkhmetov with theft.

The Astana-based court sanctioned the house arrest of the former executives on June 18, the National Security Committee said in a statement on its website today.

Astana Finance stopped paying interest and principal on $175 million of bonds in May last year. The total principal amount of debt affected by the moratorium is around $1.7 billion, the Astana-based company said in June, 2009. The government’s National Wellbeing Fund Samruk-Kazyna controls 25.51 percent of Astana Finance, the fund’s website shows.

No one immediately answered the phone registered for ArturAkhmetov in Astana, while no phone number is registered for KintalIslamov in the Kazakh capital.

CTC launches new pipeline section in Kazakhstan

22.06.2010 15:29

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 22 / Trend /

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has commissioned a new 130-kilometer section of the main oil pipeline from Tengiz Pumping Station. The pipeline was designed and built as a safer alternative to a 116-kilometer section built in 1991, which was often damaged by heavy floods.

The pipeline has successfully passed hydraulic tests. Its commissioning will increase the CTC pipeline system's reliability and security, as well as provide the necessary technical parameters to increase the project's capacity to 67 million tons a year.

Kazakh Convicts Escape From Maximum-Security Prison

June 22, 2010

ASTANA -- A group of convicts escaped from a maximum-security prison in western Kazakhstan on June 22, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Kazakh Interior Ministry spokesman GhalymzhanQasenov told RFE/RL that several prisoners escaped from the GM 172/1 maximum-security labor camp in Manghystau Oblast early this morning. Qasenov provided no other details.

Meanwhile, local media outlets reported that 20 convicts escaped and that they left in a truck. The unconfirmed reports also said some convicts were killed in a shoot-out with security officials during the breakout.

Police and security forces are checking all vehicles in Aqtau, the capital of the remote region and nearest town.