KAZAKHSTAN, the landlocked central Asian country larger than the whole of Western Europe, grabbed the attention of the world's biggest oil companies in 2000 with the discovery of the giant Kashagan oil field.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Even by the standards of a city that celebrates extravagance, it was a spectacular shopping spree: In just two weeks early last year, an 11-year-old boy from Azerbaijan became the owner of nine waterfront mansions.
Kazakh authorities accused former Kazatomprom Mukhtar Dzhakishev of money laundering, amid ongoing investigation into his role in alleged theft and illegal sales of uranium assets to foreign companies.
Kazakh companies are concerned about soaring import costs and stiffer competition from Russian rivals since the Central Asian country joined a customs union with Russia and Belarus on Jan. 1, a business lobby said.
Kazakhstan, said on Tuesday, it was interested in establishing a new export route to carry its growing surplus of oil across the South Caucasus and the Black Sea to Europe.
The responsibility of running the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe may be having a moderating effect on Kazakhstan, Vladimir Shkolnikov, an expert on the workings of the Vienna-based multilateral organization tells EurasiaNet. For one, officials in Astana are finding that it is not so easy to impose their own political preferences on a group that comprises 56 member states, and which requires consensus to get anything done.
As the first Muslim state to hold the one-year chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Kazakhstan is accelerating efforts to hold a summit in Astana this year, the country's ambassador to Turkey, Bagdat Amreyev, has said.
