I often claim that Kazakhstan is not quirky enough. The government propaganda to sell the country’s image focus on economic statistics and populations of wolves, and not the interesting and eclectic factoids that would attract tourists and grab the interest of Americans. Holidays are celebrated in very official style with a big concert, the akim or the President giving a speech, and people waving flags. None of the spontaneous celebrations you might see in the West.

And then sometimes I am proven very very wrong. Kostanai has unveiled Neweurasia.net notes that the only movie theater in Kostanai was recently demolished. But the benches there are great for little hobos.

After the recent scandal over the Kashgan oilfields, it is a bit surprising to hear that estimates of when the field will start producing
have been pushed back again, to 2012-2013. Eni, the Italian oil company which held the controlling share in the consortium that is developing the Kashgan field, was criticized and threatened with sanctions earlier this year when they announced that oil production would likely start in 2011, instead of 2007 as originally promised. In the ensuing hullabaloo, including meetings between the head of Eni and President Nazarbayev, all members of the consortium (including Eni, KazMunaiGas, Total, Exxon and Shell) agreed to double KazMunaiGas’ share in the project.

What the reaction will be now that the project is being pushed back further is unclear, but CNN quotes Interfax as saying the Minister of Energy will sanction the company if delays occur: “‘We’re trying to come to an agreement again,’ Mynbayev said.”

Some estimates claim that Kashgan holds 13 billion barrels of oil, which would make Kazakhstan a very large player on the oil scene once production begins.

Around 4pm yesterday it began to snow. And it hasn’t stopped yet. Temperatures were around -5 in the morning and obviously colder at night meaning roads are icy. This is I believe a heavier storm than we got even in winter. It does take away some of my desire to celebrate Astana’s birthday in June. But hopefully by then the snow will have melted!

This is what my trip to work looked like this morning.



As usual the city fathers called out a dozen plows to cover the same area.



Poor street cleaners!



The sudden winter scene was not without its beauty



Particularly where the wind created dunes. Which was everywhere as the wind has been very heavy





Some people were more energetic than others cleaning off their cars.

According to various foreign news services, Richard Hoagland has been nominated by President Bush to replace John Ordway as Ambassador to Kazakhstan. Hoagland is currently serving in the U.S. Embassy to Turkmenistan and was Ambassador to Tajikistan.

Hoagland was nominated as Ambassador to Armenia last year but his nomination was withdrawn in relation to questions of the US acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. The then-Ambassador to Armenia was withdrawn when he gave a speech regarding the genocide and Hoagland’s nomination was stalled and then withdrawn while the Senate debated whether to publically acknowledge the genocide or not.

Ordway has been Ambassador since 2004.

Askar Mamin, akim of Astana, will become the head of Kazakhstan Temir Zholi, after the present head was Nazarbayev did carry the torch. As did the Chinese Ambassador and Rosa Rizimbayeva. Cool.

Afganisu-tan is really impressive: 38 comic pages covering the history of Afghanistan and its neighbors as a manga-style comic, created by a Danish artist. Kazakhstan is not featured as a character but America is:
Birthday; July 4.
She’s the richest girl her neighborhood.
She is a superhero fanatic.
Her fighting skills are top-class.
She has a tendency to think her version of justice is right for everyone.

Thanks to Registan for finding this.

Thanks to the for posting this news.

President Nazarbayev gave an interview to Reuters last Friday. In it, he touched upon the crisis in the banking sector, NATO, foreign relations, and the energy sector. He also discussed the issue of succession, saying:

I would like to clarify this nonsense that the first president, that is me, can stay in power for an unlimited number of terms. That does not mean I will be here forever. After a five year period I will have to take part in an election in 2012. And if the people give me their support, I can stay. But I have been in this job for so many years and after all I might hand it over to the next generation, so to say, when I see that we need new, fresh people and so on. This is an electoral process…We have a lot of them here. … I think I should not give any names now to avoid upsetting anyone.

Obviously he is trying to deflect criticism that he has been named President for Life, but the hint that he may not seek another term is a rare comment heard in this country.

Other excerpts can be found here. Probably most interestingly, on the problem of Kazakhstan banks which owe collectively 4 billion dollars due this year to various lenders, Nazarbayev said,

The government has not extended a single kopeck to support banks’ liquidity itself. And the banks themselves did not need it. Of course they wanted us to boost their liquidity using state money but we will not do this. They have to deal with it themselves.

This seems to belie the fact that the government was urged to cut its budget at the end of last year to free up 4 billion dollars. Perhaps that money is being used a reserve. Or some have suggested that that money will be given to banks in the form of a development fund for small and medium businesses to boost the domestic economy and give banks some business. In the interview the President does cite the government mortgage program which has spent 1 billion dollars to give people low-interest mortgages and assist in affording housing.

In answer to those who believe Kazakhstan is nationalizing its oil industry, Nazarbayev offered reassuring words:

…Kazakhstan has no desire to nationalise any assets like in Latin America…If investors break their contracts themselves, and Kazakhstan sees that the country is losing out on something with regard to a certain contract … then we’ll say: ‘Dear friends, either pay us compensation or give us shares back to compensate for the money we lost’. Kazakhstan does not want to nationalise or take anything away from anyone

And now for the lighter side of the news: The Olympic Torch will pass through Almaty on 2 April on its way out from Beijing to Istanbul. I wasn’t aware that the torch starts its trip in the host country (after being lit in Greece at Olympia of course) , in this case China, and then travels around the world and back.

The torch was lit on 24 March and is currently in Greece.

According to local news, the torch will be run through the main streets of Almaty before being put on a plane to Istanbul. You can check out the the relay schedule and get photos and video of the torch at each stop. The official Olympic relay page for Almaty: City of Apples has facts, photos and history of Kazakhstan and the city itself.

Already the city is decorated with billboards featuring Kazakhstan’s Olympic athletes (and if I could find the cord that attaches my cellphone to my computer I’d have some of them up here!) and a clock counting down the days to the torch relay in front of KBTU.

Kazakhstan expects to get 10 medals this year and the government will pay $250 000 to each gold medal winner.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to be in Almaty for the relay so I am counting on local bloggers to recount the event for us. Leave me links in the comments, please!

According to the 14 March edition of The Kazakhstan Monitor, Joint Stock Company Khabar, the television service of the government of Kazakhstan, will be fully nationalized. 50.001% of the shares of Khabar (a slim majority) was owned by the government and 49.999% owned by a private investor.

This week, State Holding Company Samghau bought the remaining shares, ensuring full government control. Sources indicate that the State Budget for this year included transferring money to Samghau for the purpose of buying these shares. As The Kazakhstan Monitor indicated, the offer was made publicly on the open market but the 570 848 shares were sold as a lot and only category A investors were qualified to participate. Conditions of the sale also included a advance deposit of 2 billion tenge. Often such conditions are imposed to ensure that a designated buyer is the only one willing and able to purchase the shares.

It is widely believed that the private investor was Rakhat Aliyev who was recently sentenced to two 20 year sentences for conspiracy, plotting to overthrow the government, fraud and other crimes. Following these convictions it is understandable that the government would not want him to have control of the government news portal. It is unclear whether Aliyev agreed to the sale or whether the shares were sold without his consent.

The Minister of Culture and Information, Yerpmukhamet Yerisbayev, in the The Kazakhstan Monitor article claimed that nationalizing Khabar had been a long time goal since the TV channel’s founding in 1995.

Other media holdings of Mr. Aliyev were sold or transferred to his ex-wife Dariga Nazarbayeva, who is the daughter of the President of Kazakhstan. Nazarbayeva also managed Khabar and the couple’s media holdings until 2005 when she began a political career, founding the Asar Party and running for member of Parliament. At that point she gave up her position to avoid conflicts of interest.

The Khabar company comprises not only the Khabar television station, but also Khabar.kz, a satellite TV station Caspio Net and the Kazakhstan language El Arna station. It is the official portal for government news. Khabar means “news” in Kazakh.