The presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will sign a deal on a Customs Union between the three ex-Soviet republics in Minsk on November 27, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
Russia and Kazakhstan have concluded agreements on oil transit and the parallel operation of the two countries' power grids, according to media reports. The deals were signed November 20 by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and his Kazakh counterpart Sauat Mynbayev.
The erstwhile flagship of Kazakhstan's banking sector, BTA Bank, is wrapping up a turbulent year: embattled by the credit crunch, dogged by allegations of massive fraud, nationalized under duress and forced to default on its debts. The bank is now at the center of an acrimonious legal battle in London while simultaneously negotiating with creditors to restructure debts.
The information disseminated by some media outlets that the investigation team probing into the case of Kazatomprom ex president Mukhtar Djakishev has been allegedly placed under house arrest, is not true, the Kazakh National Security Committee press secretary Kenzhebulat Beknazarov said.
Temirbank, Kazakhstan's tenth largest bank, has defaulted on its debt and became the fourth Kazakh lender to seek restructuring this year, the bank said in a statement on Monday.
