In this issue:
President Nazarbayev Attends BTC Opening in Baku, Talks Cooperation with U.S. Energy Secretary
Election Officials Gear Up for 2005 Polls
Kazakhstan’s Development Bank Called ‘Most Dynamic’ by Euromoney, Seeks Larger Regional Role
US Ex-Im Bank Provides US$48 Million Guarantee for State of the Art Telecom Network in Kazakhstan
Gov’t Contemplates Almaty Centered Tourism Cluster
I am looking for an apartment to rent. --- Men arendagha pater izdedym.
How many bedrooms does it have? --- Paterde nesche bolme bar?
Is it a good neighborhood? ---Aimaghy zhaksyma?
President Nazarbayev Attends BTC Opening in Baku,
Talks Cooperation with U.S. Energy Secretary
President Nursultan Nazarbayev attended the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) export pipeline in Azerbaijan’s capital on May 25. As part of the festivities, President Nazarbayev met with visiting U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman to discuss greater Kazakhstan-U.S. cooperation in various energy related fields.
The U.S. Energy Secretary noted there was a significant role for Kazakhstan to play in operations of the BTC pipeline.
Kazakhstan is currently negotiating access to this pipeline, and President Nazarbayev recently noted it could be transformed into an Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil transportation system. At a meeting with Secretary Bodman, the President said Kazakhstan’s active participation in BTC is strengthened by the country’s commitment to multiple export pipelines for its energy resources.
At a meeting, Secretary Bodman expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan’s President for renouncing nuclear weapons in the early 1990s and for Kazakhstan’s cooperation with the United States in strengthening security, fighting terrorism and drug trafficking as well as for assistance in Iraq.
The BTC pipeline will have a capacity of one million barrels per day. It is the first direct oil link between the landlocked Caspian Sea, which is believed to contain the world’s third largest oil and gas reserves, to the Mediterranean.
The pipeline “opens a new era in the Caspian Basin’s development,” President Bush said in a letter read by Secretary Bodman at the ceremony, calling the BTC a “'monumental achievement.”
“The United States has consistently supported (the pipeline) because we believe in the project’s ability to bolster energy security, strengthen participating countries’ energy diversity, enhance regional cooperation and expand international investment opportunities,” the letter from the U.S. President said.
Kazakh officials have consistently said the pipeline’s future profitability depends greatly on providing access for oil from Kazakhstan, which is believed to have the larger share of the Caspian Basin’s oil resources.
Election Officials Gear Up for 2005 Polls
Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) is gearing up for upcoming elections later in 2005. Polls will reflect the public’s choice for seats in the Senate, the choice in by-elections for local assemblies and trial elections for mayors in some rural districts.
Election officials, representatives of political parties and nongovernmental organizations had a chance to mull preparations for future polls at a May 26 seminar in Astana arranged by the CEC.
New CEC Chairman Onalsyn Zhumabekov spoke at the seminar, saying strict observance of election laws will help strengthen Kazakhstan’s election system. Referring to the September 2004 Parliamentary elections which were accompanied by both tough competition and the use of “dirty technologies and black PR”, Mr. Zhumabekov said more often than not problems with elections come not from the shortcomings of the law, but from people’s ignorance of the law and frivolous interpretation of the election law by local election officials and the candidates themselves. He explained details of amendments to the Law on Elections which he said reflect democratic principles.
The next round of elections will include indirect elections for half of the Senate seats and direct by-elections for regional maslikhats (assemblies) this fall. This August will see the first ever trial elections for akims (mayors) of rural districts. The National Commission on Democracy and Civil Society, a consultative body which includes leaders of political parties and NGOs, has called on all political parties to support these trial elections. The commission believes such elections should coincide with the process of delegating more authority from central government to regions.
Election officials view these ballots as a prelude of sorts for the upcoming presidential election, the date for which has not yet been announced.
Kazakhstan’s Development Bank Called ‘Most Dynamic’
by Euromoney, Seeks Larger Regional Role
Kazakhstan’s Development Bank (KDB) won Euromoney magazine’s first award as the Most Dynamic Development Bank in the world, and the bank’s leader announced plans to expand its operations in Central Asia.
Martin Born, director of Euromoney, an international financial publication, presented the award to KDB’s President Kambar Shalgimbayev at an annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Belgrade on May 21. Mr. Born said the award was given to KBD “for sustainable market position, high yields, potential for growth and high quality management and profitability.”
In its three years of full scale operations, since 2002 the Bank has approved and participated in financing 55 investment projects, including export operations, worth US$1 billion. The 100 percent state owned Bank has provided US$555.7 million of its own money, or more than half of the financing for these projects which will help create more than 60,000 new jobs. The bank supports projects including a recently launched US$20 million pipe and fitting plant in Aktobe, as well as numerous upgrades at diverse industrial facilities across Kazakhstan.
Euromoney introduced the nomination of “The Most Dynamic Development Bank in the World” for the first time this year. The winner was chosen through polling of market analysts from leading banks.
At the award presentation ceremony in Belgrade, Mr. Shalgimbayev said the bank “is eager to keep the flag of leadership for a long time because we are ambitious, forceful in reaching our objectives and, as Euromoney experts saw, highly professional.” He stressed KDB is planning to expand its operations in foreign markets in order to increase competitiveness of Kazakh producers and to become a major regional development bank.
KDB is one of the institutions the Government of Kazakhstan is using to promote non-extractive industries as part of the Strategy of Industrial and Innovation Development. KBD’s assets as of May 1, 2005 stood at 121.1 billion tenge (US$1=130 tenge). Its own capital amounted to 66.7 billion tenge, including 58.4 billion tenge as charter capital. The bank’s net profit in 2004 was 3 billion tenge.
US Ex-Im Bank Provides US$48 Million Guarantee for
State of the Art Telecom Network in Kazakhstan
The United States Export-Import Bank announced May 26 it has provided a $48 million loan guarantee for two U.S. telecommunications companies, Winncom Technologies Corp., of Solon, Ohio, and Lucent Technologies Inc., of Murray Hill, N.J., to build a turn-key fiber-optic communications network in the capital city of Astana in Kazakhstan. The network will have the capacity to provide multifunctional voice and data services for up to 100,000 customers.
As the exporter of record, Winncom Technologies will provide procurement, design, engineering and other services to Kazakhtelecom, the national telecommunications provider. Lucent Technologies is the primary supplier on the export sale.
Ex-Im Bank Chairman Philip Merrill said of the transaction: “This export sale is a win for the United States and for Kazakhstan. It will create and sustain high quality U.S. jobs in California, New Jersey and Ohio while supporting Kazakhtelecom’s effort to develop a ‘next generation’ national data network.”
Societe Generale of New York is the guaranteed lender on the transaction. The primary source of repayment is Kazkommertsbank, Kazakhstan’s largest bank.
Gov’t Contemplates Almaty Centered Tourism Cluster
The Government of Kazakhstan is moving ahead with
plans to create a tourism cluster centered around the
former capital of Almaty. It is currently contemplating
a program to be launched in June. It will include plans
to improve legislation, statistics and tourism
infrastructure.
Evgeni Nikitinski, Deputy Chairman of the Trade and
Tourism Committee of the Ministry of Industry and
Trade, said the program would also envision an
educational campaign to train personnel to service
tourism.
The program will also include the most significant
tourist sites around Almaty, including Small and
Big Almaty Gorges, Tuyuk-Su and Chimbulak,
a famous mountain ski resort, the Altyn Emel
National Park, a section of the Great Silk Road,
the Charyn Canyon, and Kolsai lakes. It will also
include the Tamgaly Tas Gorge, famous for its
cave painting dating back several millennia.
Mr. Nikitinski said this project to develop tourism in Almaty as a cluster of interlinked industries is a pilot one and will be used as a template for a national program to develop tourism for next three years.
Things to Watch:
- President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine is expected to visit Kazakhstan on May 30-31.
- Kazakhstan’s capital Astana will host a regular session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on June 3-4.
- A major international business conference, “Kazakhstan Draws a New Wave of Investment: Strategies for Diversification and Sustainable Growth”, will take place in Almaty on June 14-16. The conference is co-organized by the Government of Kazakhstan, the Asia Society and the Eurasian Media Forum. It is expected to feature presentations by President Nazarbayev, Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik, Asia Society Chairman Amb. Richard Holbrooke, as well as George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Institute. Information about the conference is available here.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: 202 232 5488, ext. 104, Fax: 202 232 5845
