News: Friday, July 23, 2010 
Article of the Day
Four infected with Anthrax near Almaty
Four residents of Kazatkom settlement in Almaty Oblast have become infected with anthrax, the Ministry of Health says.
The four had slaughtered cattle without using proper sanitation methods, the ministry said.
Even though the patients have a milder form of the disease, health-care officials are taking precautions because “it can turn into the septic form and lead to death,” according to Dr. Inna Moskalyova. She is the deputy head doctor at the Kaskelen Hospital for Infectious Disease.
Anthrax, an often-virulent disease that some countries have developed into a biological weapon, can be passed from livestock to humans.
The four anthrax patients are in isolation in a hospital and are being watched 24 hours a day, the ministry said.
The Kazatkom settlement, 70 kilometers from Almaty, is under quarantine, with no one allowed in or out, according to Caspionet.kz.
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Kazakhstan General
Kazakhstan to host Military Exercises
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization will conduct anti-terrorism exercises from September 9 to 25 in Kazakhstan, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports.
The exercises, codenamed Peace Mission
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Nanotechnology Fund Partners chosen
Russia’s VTB Asset Management and the United Kingdom-based venture capital firm I2BF will jointly manage the Russia-Kazakhstan Nanotechnology Venture Fund.
Russia’s state-owned nanotechnology company Rosnano and Kazakhstan’s
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Kazakhstani Bookies furious at Paul the Octopus
Paul the Octopus may have become a national hero in Spain, but he is the nemesis of bookmakers in Kazakhstan, who blame the octopus oracle for
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Police find Tsarist-era Rifle
Petropavlovsk police checking a complaint of illegal weapons at a home have come across a tsarist-era rifle 103 years old.
The owner said his father passed the
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Oil and Gas Sector
Billionaire’s Company loses Gas Plant Contract
A Moldovan billionaire’s company has lost its contract to construct the $320-million Borankol gas processing plant after doing no work on the project for 18 months.
The
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Ministry cancels Caspian Gas license
The Oil and Gas Ministry has revoked Caspian Gas Corporation’s license to develop the Shagyrly-Shomyshty gas deposit because of a sizable debt it owes BTA Bank.
The
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Roxi struggles at Ravninnoe Oil Field
Roxi Petroleum continues to struggle in its quest to produce commercial quantities of oil in Kazakhstan’s Ravninnoe field.
The geologically complex field has required expensive drilling that
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Finance and Investment
Samruk-Kazyna among Wealth Funds seeking Private Capital
By Natsuko Waki
A curious trend is developing among powerful sovereign and state-backed investment funds, including Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Kazyna Fund.
Despite being super rich in mainly oil-generated wealth, they
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Bank Lending lags Kazakhstan Recovery
By Clare Nuttall
Kazakhstan's bank lending continues to lag the economic recovery, with the volume of loans this year expected to be only half of what was
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BTA sues Ex-Chairman in His New Home, London
When Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank defaulted last year, its chairman fled to London to avoid facing charges of embezzling $1.2 billion from the bank.
Now BTA is going
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Moody’s rates Kazinvestbank
Moody's Investors Service has assigned deposit ratings of B2 to Kazinvestbank, according to a Moody’s press release.
It has given Kazinvest a financial strength rating of E+.
The
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Trade and Consumer Goods
Sturgeon Industry to be nationalized
Kazakhstan will nationalize its sturgeon industry on January 1 because the fish’s numbers are plummeting at an alarming rate.
Kazakhstani officials have already asked the other countries
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Communications and Transportation
China Telecom plans Cable across Kazakhstan
By Mary Lennighan
China Telecom Europe is working with Kaztelecom on a telephone cable across Kazakhstan to connect China with Europe.
Like China Telecom Europe’s three other land
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Regional Business News
U.S. apologizes to Russia in Drug Case
By Robert Burns
The United States apologized to Russia on Thursday for what it called a diplomatic slip-up in the case of a Russian pilot arrested in
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Russia boosts Power-plant Security after Bombing
The Russian Interior Ministry and law enforcement agencies are increasing security at strategic sites, including hydropower plants and other power facilities, in the wake of Wednesday’s
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Britain bars Spy Chapman from Visiting
Britain has revoked Russian spy Anna Chapman's citizenship and barred her from even visiting the country again, the Associated Press reports.
Chapman's attorney Robert Baum said she
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The Asbestos Industry’s Global Lobbying Effort
By Jim Morris
A global network of lobby groups has spent nearly $100 million since the mid-1980s to preserve the international market for asbestos, the International Consortium
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Lithuania to build a Floating Liquefied-gas Plant
Lithuania will build a floating liquefied natural gas plant in the Baltic Sea to become less dependent on Russian supplies.
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said the $370
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Russia to sell Stockpiled Grain to Ranchers
By Nataliya Vasilyeva
Russia will begin selling stockpiled grain to its struggling meat and dairy producers because of a drought that has ruined a fifth of the
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Chinese Fighter leaves Mark on Air Show
China has one of the world’s largest air forces, but its technology lags that of developed nations.
Still, Chinese aircraft left their mark on the Farnborough International
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Prices and Statistics
Volume and Share Index by Visor Capital
Date: July 23, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Market Movers by Visor Capital
Date: July 23, 2010; Source: Visor Capital
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Oil and Gas Prices
Date: July 23, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Petroleum
($/bbl) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Crude Future |
79.08
|
-.22
|
-.28
|
02:42 |
| Dated Brent Spot |
77.07 |
-.23 |
-.30 |
02:52 |
| WTI Cushing Spot |
79.03 |
2.77 |
3.63
|
07/22 |
| Petroleum
(cent/gal) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Heating Oil Future |
205.86
|
-.38
|
-.18 |
02:41
|
| Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future |
214.30
|
-.36 |
-.17 |
02:32 |
| Natural gas
($/MMBtu) |
|
Price* |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| Nymex Henry Hub Future |
4.63 |
-.02 |
-.32 |
02:41 |
| Henry Hub Spot |
4.68 |
-.02 |
-.43 |
07/22 |
| New York City Gate Spot |
5.20 |
.00
|
.00 |
07/22
|
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Commodities
Date: July 23, 2010; Source: Bloomberg.com
| Commodity |
Price |
Change |
%Change |
Time |
| COPPER FUTURE (USd/lb.) |
317.050 |
0.600 |
0.19 |
02:44 |
| GOLD 100 OZ FUTR (USD/t oz.) |
1196.000 |
0.400
|
0.03 |
02:44 |
| SILVER FUTURE (USD/t oz.) |
18.155 |
0.035
|
0.19
|
02:44 |
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Metal Prices
Date: July 23, 2010; Source: Kitco.com
| Silver |
18.17 |
+0.06 |
| Platinum |
1531.00 |
+7.00
|
| Palladium |
457.00 |
+3.00
|
| Rhodium |
2,190.00 |
0.00
|
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Exchange rates
Date: July 23, 2010; Source: the National Bank of Kazakhstan
| 1 USD |
KZT 147.65 |
1 CHF |
KZT 142.00 |
1 CNY |
KZT 21.78 |
1 TRY |
KZT 96.84 |
10 JPY |
KZT 1.70 |
| 1 EUR |
KZT 189.63 |
1 AUD |
KZT 130.66 |
1 KGS |
KZT 3.22 |
1 UZS |
KZT 0.09 |
|
|
| 1 GBP |
KZT 225.56 |
1 CAD |
KZT 141.85 |
1 RUB |
KZT 4.85 |
100 KRW |
KZT 12.27 |
|
|
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