2015

In Central Asia, Chinese inroads in Russia’s back yard

28 Dec

Economy

2274

In Central Asia, Chinese inroads in Russia’s back yard

This is part of an occasional series examining China’s efforts to win friends and clients in Asia and to assert a more dominant role across the continent. Slowly but surely, a four-lane highway i... read more..

Kazakhstan Looks to Private Equity for Help With Its $93 Billion Cash Pile

28 Dec

Economy

2633

Kazakhstan Looks to Private Equity for Help With Its $93 Billion Cash Pile

KKR & Co. founder Henry Kravis, Blackstone Group LP Chairman Stephen Schwarzman and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein were among the guests when Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev h... read more..

The Limits of Collective Security in Eurasia

28 Dec

Political process

1940

The Limits of Collective Security in Eurasia

Divergent interests in Russia’s dispute with Turkey and Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan restrict the CSTO. Article IV of the 1992 Collective Security Treaty offers a familiar formula for mutua... read more..

Opponents accuse Kazakhstan of web clampdown as oil money shrivels

26 Dec

Events and opinions

2084

Opponents accuse Kazakhstan of web clampdown as oil money shrivels

Opponents and rights groups have accused authorities in Kazakhstan of clamping down on free speech on the internet in order to keep a lid on discontent as falling oil prices push down people's real in... read more..

Putin's new law means bureaucratic class can prey on ordinary Russians even more

17 Dec

Political process

1946

Putin's new law means bureaucratic class can prey on ordinary Russians even more

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that allows the Constitutional Court of Russia to decide whether or not to comply with judgements made by international rights courts – a measure seen... read more..

Kazakhstan: UK-based journalist Bela Kudaybergenova quits because 'she can't lie anymore'

17 Dec

Political process

2062

Kazakhstan: UK-based journalist Bela Kudaybergenova quits because 'she can't lie anymore'

When Kazakhstan celebrated its independence day on Wednesday (16 December), one former journalist with the Central Asian state's broadcaster was grateful she did not have to report it. Bela read more..

China and Kazakhstan: Roads, Belts, Paths, and Steps

17 Dec

Economy

2034

China and Kazakhstan: Roads, Belts, Paths, and Steps

Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov made the most of his trip to China this week. While in China Massimov attended the Kazakh-Chinese Business Council (KCBC) in Beijing, where a handful of commercial... read more..

Kazakhstan: who ordered the killings and tortures?

14 Dec

Political process

2068

Kazakhstan: who ordered the killings and tortures?

Four years after the massacre of striking oil workers by security forces at Zhanaozen in western Kazakhstan, the campaign to unmask those who gave the orders goes on Who ordered police to shoot down ... read more..

Kazakhstan, struggling with low oil price, revamps monetary policy

14 Dec

Economy

1996

Kazakhstan, struggling with low oil price, revamps monetary policy

Kazakhstan said on Tuesday it would tear up its monetary policy mechanism and come up with a new approach, scrambling to find a coherent response to the sliding world oil prices that have pushed down ... read more..

Kazakhstan Wants to Build You an Armored Vehicle. It’s not clear whether there are any takers yet.

14 Dec

Economy

1970

Kazakhstan Wants to Build You an Armored Vehicle. It’s not clear whether there are any takers yet.

In December Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), a joint venture between South Africa’s Paramount Group and Kazakhstan Engineering, began production at a facility to build armored vehicles in Kazak... read more..

10 Dec

Special projects

8008

Kazakhstan Wants to Build You an Armored Vehicle. It’s not clear whether there are any takers yet.

In December Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), a joint venture between South Africa’s Paramount Group and Kazakhstan Engineering, began production at a facility to build armored vehicles in Kazak... read more..

Ceding $18 Billion Gets Kazakh Central Bank What Money Can’t Buy

01 Dec

Events and opinions

1837

Ceding $18 Billion Gets Kazakh Central Bank What Money Can’t Buy

Losing control of an $18 billion pension fund may give the Kazakh central bank the independence it needs to stick with a shift to inflation targeting that’s upended the nation’s currency this year. T... read more..

Kazakhstan Treads Diplomatic Tightrope In Turkey-Russia Row

01 Dec

Events and opinions

1762

Kazakhstan Treads Diplomatic Tightrope In Turkey-Russia Row

Kazakhstan has issued a diplomatic call for restraint from its allies Russia and Turkey following Ankara’s shooting down of a Russian warplane involved in airstrikes on Syria. The Foreign Ministry sa... read more..

Kazakhstan Passes New Labor Law Without Consulting Workers

01 Dec

Economy

1930

Kazakhstan Passes New Labor Law Without Consulting Workers

Hard times need hard labor laws. At least that is what Kazakhstan has decided. This week, President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed off on legislation that stacks the cards more strongly in favor of emplo... read more..

Near-Record U.S. Penalty Seen for VimpelCom in Uzbek Case

28 Nov

Corruption!

2356

Near-Record U.S. Penalty Seen for VimpelCom in Uzbek Case

VimpelCom Ltd., a mobile operator partly owned by Mikhail Fridman and other Russian billionaires, is in talks to pay about $775 million -- a near record -- to settle U.S. allegations it paid bribes in... read more..

TeliaSonera could face wider Eurasia probe

28 Nov

Corruption!

2281

TeliaSonera could face wider Eurasia probe

US authorities are considering a probe into TeliaSonera’s operations in other Eurasian countries, building on an ongoing investigation over alleged corruption in Uzbekistan. TeliaSonera’s business de... read more..

Europe's money-laundering machine: still spinning

28 Nov

Corruption!

1869

Europe's money-laundering machine: still spinning

When the first flames of the Arab Spring began to burn, a Tunisia suffering from decades of mismanagement, inequality and abuse broke free from under the long reign of Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali.As the g... read more..

Kazakhstan seeks global recognition through ties with major powers

26 Nov

Political process

1763

Kazakhstan seeks global recognition through ties with major powers

Kazakhstan's relations with China have been growing extensively since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. As the first Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, my memory of this bilateral ... read more..

26 Nov

Corruption!

1957

Transparency International report shows telecom companies can do much more to prevent corruption

Report shows weak disclosure on corporate holdings and country-by-country reporting, disclosure of programmes to prevent corruption scores betterThe world’s biggest telecommunications companies do not... read more..

26 Nov

Political process

1875

A New Title for the Tajik President

Just in case it wasn’t clear, Emomali Rahmon is likely to be named the Leader of the Nation. Perhaps the only thing surprising about the news that a group of Tajik parliamentarians have worked up a... read more..

An Overview of Central Asian Markets on the Silk Road Economic Belt

26 Nov

Economy

1982

An Overview of Central Asian Markets on the Silk Road Economic Belt

Central Asian countries (CACs), consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are not yet key export markets or investment destinations for Hong Kong companies, but th... read more..

Kazakhstan: Aging President Urges Aging Public Servants to Retire

23 Nov

Events and opinions

1848

Kazakhstan: Aging President Urges Aging Public Servants to Retire

Kazakhstan’s septuagenarian leader Nursultan Nazarbayev has issued a heartfelt call for public servants to step aside after 25 years in the job and make way for fresh blood. The long-serving presiden... read more..

23 Nov

Events and opinions

2209

Eurasian Union vs. Fascist Eurasia

In late 2011, Vladimir Putin presented his idea for the creation of a “Eurasian Union,” in the north-eastern part of the Euro-Asiatic continent.[1] By that time, he had already been officially nominat... read more..

Malaysia’s scandalous first family: After Najib’s RM2.6 bil ‘Donation’, in-low shocks with hermes bags ‘Hijacking’

23 Nov

Corruption!

4076

Malaysia’s scandalous first family: After Najib’s RM2.6 bil ‘Donation’, in-low shocks with hermes bags ‘Hijacking’

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak must be super proud of his family, for the wrong reason. Najib himself is easily the most controversial prime minister the country has ever produced. Born ... read more..

Kazakhstan jails pro-Russian 'separatist' blogger

23 Nov

Events and opinions

1968

Kazakhstan jails pro-Russian 'separatist' blogger

Ethnic Russian man given five-year jail sentence for running a web poll on region's sovereignty. An ethnic Russian blogger from Kazakhstan's east was given five years in jail for publishing an onli... read more..

19 Nov

Economy

1926

Legalisation Campaign Seeks to Add Revenue to National Budget, Reduce Shadow Economy

Kazakhstan launched property and capital legalisation campaigns in September 2014 that are scheduled to run until Dec. 31, 2015. The campaigns include the approval of a law “On amnesty of Kazakhstan c... read more..

18 Nov

Events and opinions

1799

The end of the Nazarbayev dream

Kazakhstan’s networked authoritarianism is a powerful system of media control, but it leaves little room for the regime to manoeuvre. After a visit to Almaty’s Children Hospital in September, Ainura ... read more..

China Eyes Russian Central Asian Role As It Considers Energy Interests

16 Nov

Economy

1828

China Eyes Russian Central Asian Role As It Considers Energy Interests

China will be keeping a close eye on its energy interests in Central Asia as Russia reinforces the borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) against external threats. Speaking at a summ... read more..

Examining Kazakhstan’s Religious Contradiction

16 Nov

Events and opinions

2559

Examining Kazakhstan’s Religious Contradiction

Kazakhstan has used a variety of means to promote itself as a model of economic development and social progress, such as chairing the OSCE in 2010, hosting Expo 2017 and bidding for the 2022 Winter Ol... read more..

High dependency on petrodollars leads Kazakh currency to devaluation

16 Nov

Economy

1829

High dependency on petrodollars leads Kazakh currency to devaluation

A significant devaluation of Kazakhstan's the national currency tenge over the last months resulted from the country's high dependence on oil revenues, according to European experts. "It became evide... read more..

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