News: Thursday, July 22, 2010 
Article of the Day
Foreign Minister talks with Karzai, Clinton
By Hal Foster
On a day when the world was riveted on Afghanistan’s security future, Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev told President Hamid Karzai a story about another dimension of the future.
The two were discussing Kazakhstan’s offer to help Afghanistan develop its petroleum and mineral resources, which a U.S. Geological Survey report last month estimated at a staggering $1 trillion, according to Central Asia Newswire.
Saudabayev said that when Kazakhstan became independent in the early 1990s, it was in a similar economic situation to Afghanistan today – filled with natural resources but poor.
On a trip that President Nursultan Nazarbayev made to Saudi Arabia in 1994, Saudabayev said, the Kazakhstan delegation expressed admiration at the prosperity they saw.
The Saudi leader King Sahd replied: “We were once poor nomads like you, but we were lucky enough to have oil.”
If Kazakhstan develops its natural resources wisely, the king said, “you will be rich as well.”
Karzai, who is aware of Kazakhstan’s rapid economic development, got the message, according to Roman Vassilenko, a Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Saudabayev’s and Karzai’s one-on-one discussion came on the sidelines of a headline-generating international conference at which Karzai pledged that Afghanistan would provide for its own security by 2014.
Although Saudabayev and Karzai touched on economic development, security also took center stage in their one-on-one discussions.
Saudabayev invited Karzai to an OSCE summit in Astana this fall – and Karzai accepted.
Kazakhstan on January 1 became the first country in the former Soviet Union to chair the organization. Nazarbayev began calling for the organization’s first summit in 11 years even before January 1, saying the OSCE needed to refocus on its original role of security.
Karzai “has supported the idea of a summit with a focus on Afghanistan all along,” Vassilenko said.
The summit also is likely to address the situation in Kyrgyzstan and reforming the OSCE so it can do a better job of responding to crises.
In their economic discussions, Saudabayev told Karzai that Kazakhstan could be useful in Afghanistan’s development.
“We have the technology and we are close neighbors,” Vassilenko quoted Saudabayev as saying.
Tuesday marked the third meeting between Saudabayev and Karzai in Kabul in nine months.
The two signed an agreement on educational and cultural cooperation in November of 2009 under which 1,000 Afghan students will attend Kazakhstan universities and vocational schools in the next five years. The first 200 students will arrive this fall.
Saudabayev, in his new role of OSCE chairman in office, also met Karzai in May of this year.
The two discussed Afghan security, an OSCE summit and Kazakhstan’s offer to train Afghan police and border guards in Kazakhstan, which Karzai accepted.
In addition to Karzai, Saudabayev had one-on-one talks Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and other diplomats.
The conference attracted 40 foreign ministers and other top international officials.
Saudabayev and Clinton discussed the need to find a two-day slot for the OSEC summit, which the United States signed off on at an OSCE foreign ministers meeting in Almaty on Saturday.
Saudabayev had suggested October 29 and 30, but European officials said those days would conflict with important events on the continent.
That means the summit is likely to come later, perhaps in November.
Clinton did not indicate whether President Barack Obama would attend the summit, Vassilenko said.
Clinton expressed American appreciation for Nazarbayev signing an agreement on July 8 allowing U.S. armored personnel carriers to cross Kazakhstan by train, Vassilenko said.
In October of 2001, just a month after the 9-11 attacks, Kazakhstan became one of the first countries near Afghanistan to allow U.S. planes involved in the war effort to fly through its airspace.
Saudabayev and Clinton discussed the Kyrgyzstan situation at length, Vassilenko said.
“Kazakhstan’s leadership in Kyrgyzstan has been essential,” Vassilenko quoted her as saying.
Ban told Saudabayev that the special U.N. and OSCE envoys dealing with the Kyrgyzstan situation had done a good job of working together to head off further violence.
Saudabayev briefed Ban on the OSCE’s plan to deploy 52 police trainers in Kyrgyzstan, Vassilenko said.
The organization works on consensus, so all 56 member countries must approve the deployment. Vassilenko said that may happen this week.
Saudabayev and Ban also discussed the International Day Against Nuclear Tests that the United Nations General Assembly approved unanimously in June of 2009.
Nazarbayev had proposed the day, which is scheduled for August 29, the 51st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s first test of a nuclear weapon at the Semipalatinsk testing site in northeast Kazakhstan.
The Soviets set off 500 nukes at the site from 1949 until the 1980s.
Nazarbayev ordered the site dismantled in 1991, even before Kazakhstan became independent, angering Kremlin leaders. He chose the anniversary of the first test, August 29, to issue the order.
Kazakhstan believes the anti-nuclear day “will be helpful as we all try to move toward a world without nuclear weapons,” Vassilenko said.
In addition to pledging that Afghanistan would provide for its own defense by 2014, Karzai vowed in his conference address to try to end the fighting.
He said he wanted to see a country that could flourish, lifting its “people from poverty to prosperity and from insecurity to stability.”
“Our location in the center of the new Silk Road makes us a convergence point of regional and global economic interests,” he said.
The government’s vision, he said, “is to be the peaceful meeting place of civilizations.”
NATO forces have been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan for nine years.
Many people in the countries that have provided the anti-Taliban forces are tired of the bloodshed and the cost of the war – and want it to end, according to Central Asia Newswire.
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Kazakhstan General
A weeklong Indian film festival is attracting big crowds in Astana
A weeklong Indian film festival is attracting big crowds in Astana, according to the Indian news organization sify.com.
The crowd at the Kino Park Cinema Hall was
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Oil and Gas Sector
Ministry revokes 10 Production Licenses
The Ministry of Oil and Gas has revoked 10 production licenses.
It has also sent 117 breach-of-contract notifications to companies that it said had failed to comply
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Natural-gas Fueling Station opens in Almaty
Kazakhstan's first natural gas fueling station has opened in a municipal vehicle park in Almaty.
The $4 million facility marks the start of KazTransGas and BG Kazakhstan’s
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Eni continues Its Caspian Drive
By Liam Moloney
The Italian oil company Eni, a partner in two big petroleum operations in Kazakhstan, may resume exploration and production in Azerbaijan, Chief Executive Paolo
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Finance and Investment
Fund for Small Businesses gets $500 Million Loan
A government fund to help small and medium-sized businesses will obtain a $500 million loan from the Asian Development Bank, Interfax Kazakhstan reports.
The loan the Damu
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BTA to issue Nine Bonds as Part of Restructuring
BTA Bank will issue nine bonds as part of its debt restructuring plan.
The issues will include three dollar-denominated bonds, three tenge-dominated bonds and two euro-dominated bonds.
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Temirbank completes Restructuring
Temirbank has completed a restructuring that reduces its debt from $1.62 billion to $1.14 billion.
The restructuring will allow the bank to post a profit of about
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KazPost offering MoneyGram Service
MoneyGram International has signed agreements with
The postal systems of Kazakhstan and Moldova have begun offering MoneyGram money-transfer service.
Kazakhstan's postal system, KazPost, are offering the service
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Ties forged with Overseas Securities Exchanges
The Almaty Regional Financial Center has concluded five cooperation agreements with foreign securities exchanges.
The agreements will make it easier for Kazakhstani companies to issue stocks or
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Metals and Minerals
Japanese, Kazakhstani Firms to team up on Metals
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation will work with the government-owned Tau-Ken Samruk National Mining Company to develop mineral resources in Kazakhstan.
Japanese firms are stepping
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Communications and Transportation
Four National Railways agree on Fees
The national railway systems of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine have agreed on fees for cargo originating on trains outside their borders.
They have also agreed on
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Real Estate
600 Utility-Modernization Projects under way
Kazakhstan is working on more than 600 municipal-utility modernization projects nationwide.
The first phase of the effort, which will run through 2015, will cost 580 billion tenge.
The
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Insurance and Risk Management
Car-repair Database to help Insurers, Clients
The government is compiling a database of foreign-car repair costs to help insurance companies and their policyholders.
At the moment the database covers cars from Europe, the
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Regional Business News
Russian Arms Exports apt to set Record
Orders for Russian arms exports will break a post-Soviet record this year by exceeding $9 billion.
the Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian military official as
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Russia to increase Gas Production Tax
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
Russia’s Finance Ministry says it will increase it taxes on natural-gas production by 61 percent to help balance the budget.
The increase will be a
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Russia considers New GasolineTax for Roads
Russia is considering a new excise tax on gasoline to generate part of the $50 billion a year it needs to maintain its roads.
The government sees
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Russia, Bulgaria sign Pipeline Agreement
Russia and Bulgaria have signed an agreement on the planned South Stream gas pipeline that will bring Russian gas across the Black Sea to Europe, according
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Swiss Firm’s Russian Oil Acquisition brings Loss
Switzerland’s Weatherford International had a second-quarter loss of $26.6 million because of expenses related to the acquisition of TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil company.
The oil services company
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Russians buy Bombardier Business Jets
Russian customers have placed orders for four Bombardier jets at the Farnborough Air Show in England.
The Canadian company also won an order from six planes from
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Russia delivers Military Vehicles to Middle East
Russia has delivered 50 armored personnel carriers to Jordan for transshipment to Palestinian security forces.
The vehicles, which Russia is donating to the Palestinians, arrived in Jordan
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Prices and Statistics
Volume and Share Index by Visor Capital
Date: July 22, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Market Movers by Visor Capital
Date: July 22, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Oil and Gas Prices
Date: July 22, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Petroleum
($/bbl) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Crude Future |
76.30
|
-.26
|
-.34
|
02:13 |
| Dated Brent Spot |
74.35 |
-.20 |
-.27 |
02:23 |
| WTI Cushing Spot |
76.26 |
-1.18 |
-1.52
|
07/21 |
| Petroleum
(cent/gal) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Heating Oil Future |
198.85
|
-.07
|
-.04 |
02:06
|
| Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future |
207.15
|
.37 |
.18 |
20:29 |
| Natural gas
($/MMBtu) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Henry Hub Future |
4.53 |
.01 |
.29 |
02:13 |
| Henry Hub Spot |
4.70 |
.11 |
2.40 |
07/21 |
| New York City Gate Spot |
5.20 |
.16
|
3.17 |
07/21
|
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Commodities
Date: July 22, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Commodity |
Price |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| COPPER FUTURE (USd/lb.) |
306.150 |
-3.150 |
-1.02 |
02:14 |
| GOLD 100 OZ FUTR (USD/t oz.) |
1181.800 |
-10.000
|
-0.84 |
02:14 |
| SILVER FUTURE (USD/t oz.) |
17.655 |
-0.148
|
-0.83
|
02:14 |
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Metal Prices
Date: July 22, 2010; Source: Kitco.com
| Silver |
17.62 |
-0.06 |
| Platinum |
1503.00 |
-10.00
|
| Palladium |
442.00 |
-4.00
|
| Rhodium |
2,140.00 |
0.00
|
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Exchange rates
Date: July 22, 2010; Source: the National Bank of Kazakhstan
| 1 USD |
KZT 147.56 |
1 CHF |
KZT 140.33 |
1 CNY |
KZT 21.77 |
1 TRY |
KZT 96.56 |
10 JPY |
KZT 1.70 |
| 1 EUR |
KZT 189.61 |
1 AUD |
KZT 130.44 |
1 KGS |
KZT 3.22 |
1 UZS |
KZT 0.09 |
|
|
| 1 GBP |
KZT 225.29 |
1 CAD |
KZT 142.34 |
1 RUB |
KZT 4.85 |
100 KRW |
KZT 12.25 |
|
|
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