Economy

Kazakhstan has been diverting crude oil exports away from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to Russia's Caspian Pipeline Consortium route after contamination in Azerbaijan'sflagship Azeri Light crude disrupted the Mediterranean export system, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data Aug. 13 and an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter.

On the picture: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets his Kazakh counterpart, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, in Ankara on May 10.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said after a visit to Ankara for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that a new transportation route connecting China with European markets bypassing Russia is important for the two nations.

The companies operating two major oil fields in Kazakhstan are being taken to arbitration by the nation’s government, with billions of dollars of revenue at stake amid allegations of unapproved spending, according to people familiar with the matter.

The scale of destruction in Ukraine is already staggering. A new CEPR publication builds on prior experiences with reconstruction following both wars and natural disasters to outline some principles for the future reconstruction of Ukraine. Efforts should include putting the country on the path to EU accession; establishing a stand-alone EU-authorised agency with autonomy to coordinate and manage aid and reconstruction programmes; recognising that Ukraine must own its reconstruction; encouraging inflows of foreign capital and technology transfers; a focus on grants rather than loans; and rebuilding around the principle of a zero-carbon future.

If Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign — and energy — policies are to be successful, Tokayev will need to shrewdly balance the country’s partners.  

Much of the oil produced in Kazakhstan transits through a pipeline across Russia, which now has shrunk output for a variety of reasons.