01.11.2004 ADB to further assist Kazakhstan in development of agricultural areas: http://www.inform.kz/
Astana. November 1. KAZINFORM – Asian Development Bank is going to further assist Kazakhstan in sphere of developing agricultural areas, said the ADB Board of Directors Chairman Tadao Chino at the briefing after meeting Nursultan Nazarbayev November 1 in Astana. For example, ADB has scheduled to allocate a grant of 1, 9 mln dollars for implementing projects on technical assistance for agricultural regions of Kazakhstan. “We intend to render help in sphere of transport, trade, agriculture as well as assist in financial sector”, said head of ADB. According to Tadao Cino with the President of Kazakhstan they have discussed issues of bilateral cooperation as well as state of interrelations between Central Asian countries and ADB. The Bank, in Tadao Chno’s view, backs Kazakhstan’s position to strengthen economic cooperation in Central Asia.

01.11.2004 Ex-Im Bank, Kazakhstan Railway Company, ABN AMRO Bank Sign Documents to Finance GE Sale of 200 Locomotive Kits to Kazakhstan: http://www.prnewswire.com
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), Kazakhstan's state-owned national railway company, today signed financing documents in support of the sale by General Electric Co., Inc., Erie, Penn., of 200 locomotive kits to KTZ. The documents were signed at a ceremony at Ex-Im Bank headquarters by Ex- Im Bank Chairman Philip Merrill, KTZ Vice President Dr. Zhannat S. Satubaldina, and ABN AMRO Bank Senior Vice President Ingrid Cijsouw. Also in attendance were Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United States Kanat Saudabayev, and Robert Parisi, manager, Locomotive Modernization, General Electric Transportation Systems. The documents support a $122 million long-term loan guarantee approved by Ex-Im Bank's board of directors last month to finance KTZ's purchase of the GE locomotive kits. ABN AMRO Bank is the guaranteed lender on the transaction. "This transaction supports KTZ's locomotive modernization program and at the same time supports U.S. exporters and U.S. jobs." Merrill said. "KTZ plays a critical role in the national economy of Kazakhstan because so much of the country's oil, coal, minerals and other commodities travels over vast distances by rail." Ambassador Saudabayev stressed the importance of GE's participation in Kazakhstan's railway sector, furthering the country's strategy to expand economic development by reducing dependence on the oil sector. KTZ's Satubaldina declared all parties to the transaction "are choosing the right path to build the economy in Kazakhstan." GE's Parisi praised Ex-Im Bank for developing a unique structure for the financing transaction: KTZ is the first non-bank government-owned company in Kazakhstan to receive Ex-Im Bank-supported financing without a sovereign guarantee. ABN AMRO's Cijsouw called the financing "one of the largest transactions of its kind in the rail industry" and also praised its "innovative structure." The export sale will maintain or create approximately 575 jobs at GE's manufacturing facilities in Erie and Grove City, Penn., and at GE subsuppliers in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. KTZ will use the kits to refurbish 100 of its 18-year-old model 2TE10 locomotives, extending their useful lives for another 15-20 years. Ex-Im Bank also helped finance KTZ's purchase of 54 modernization kits in 2003. Ex-Im Bank this year marks its 71st year of helping finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance, and direct loans. In fiscal year 2003, Ex-Im Bank, an independent federal agency, authorized financing to support $14.3 billion of U.S. exports worldwide.

11.11.2004 Lukoil Overseas to pump $350 mln into Kazakhstan: http://www.interfax.com
Astana. (Interfax) - Lukoil Overseas, which carries out foreign projects for Russian oil major Lukoil, plans to invest $350 million in its own projects in Kazakhstan in 2004-2005, Boris Zilbermints, the company's Kazakhstan area manager, said in Astana. Lukoil Overseas will invest around $200 million, "most of it in Karachaganak," this year, Zilbermints said. In 2005, "considering that the company meets offshore drilling costs until commercial discoveries are made," investments in on-going projects will amount to $150 million, he said. Lukoil Overseas is rounding off investment on the Karachaganak and other projects because "the time for returns on the investment is approaching," Zilbermints said. Karachaganak should "start to finance itself as early as this year," he said. Lukoil has invested more than $1.5 billion in Kazakhstan in the last nine years. The company has said it is involved in eight oil and gas projects in the country.

11.11.2004 Kazakhtelecom net profit rises 50% in Jan-Sept: www.interfax.com
Almaty. (Interfax) - Net profit at Kazakhstan's national communications operator Kazakhtelecom came to 20 billion tenge for January-September, a 48.8% year-on-year increase, the company press service reported. Company revenue from telecommunications services was up 18.1% year- on-year at 57.095 billion tenge for this period. Kazakhtelecom's capital investments in modernization projects and network development in January-September was more than 9.3 billion tenge. Kazakhtelecom began building the fiber-optic line the Northern VOLS (Petropavlovsk-Kustanai-Aktobe), the final section of which will close the main ring of the national information super-trunkline. This project, the release says, will help the subsequent process of moving to digital telephone communications, which had progressed to 58.71% as of October 1. The company introduced 106,500 telephone numbers in January- September, the release reports, increasing average telephone penetration nationwide to 15.7 numbers per 100 citizens (6.7% more than in 2003). Kazakhtelecom is Kazakhstan's only communications operator, providing services to rural areas and holding exclusive rights to providing inter-city and international communications. The official exchange rate for November 9: 131.34 tenge/$1.

11.11.2004 Kazakhstan posts Jan-Sept budget deficit of 6.7%: www.interfax.com
Astana. (Interfax) - Kazakhstan began the month of October with a 49.4 billion-tenge budget deficit (or 6.7% of spending) for the period January-September. Kazakh Finance Minister Azamat Oinarov said during a Tuesday government meeting that budget spending for those nine months came to 742 billion rubles (94% of plan for the period) and that revenue was 692.6 billion tenge. The official exchange rate for November 9: 131.34 tenge/$1.

11.11.2004 TuranAlem looks to borrow over $1 bln in 2005: www.interfax.com
Almaty. (Interfax) - The Kazakh bank TuranAlem plans to raise over $1 billion on foreign and domestic markets in 2005. "The bank shareholders have confirmed a borrowing limit for next year of more than $1 billion, slated to be raised particularly in syndicated loans, Eurobonds and other instruments," senior TuranAlem executive Yerzhan Tatishev announced at a Tuesday press conference in Almaty. Since this year began, TuranAlem has raised $1.2-$1.3 billion that was put into financing projects both within the country and without. TuranAlem has 24 branches and 211 cash exchange offices. Its shareholders are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, the IFC, DEG and FMO, which own 22% of the bank's stock in aggregate. TuranAlem management and staff own 21% of the stock and Kazakh investors 16%. Nominal holders are the central depository (22%) and Bank of New York (19%).

19.11.2004 KEGOC to use $576 mln to implement two projects by 2016: http://www.interfax.com
Astana. (Interfax-Kazakhstan) - Kazakh grid company KEGOC will spend $575.7 million to implement two large projects by the end of 2015, the company's president Kanat Bozumbayev said at a meeting of the country's power suppliers on Friday in Astana. KEGOC will use $295.7 million to build the second high-voltage power line (VL-500 kilovolts) North-South under the investment program and some $280 million to upgrade the country's power grid. "There aren't any more large investments proposed for KEGOC until 2015," Bozumbayev said. Kazakh's power sector needs an estimated $3.5 billion in total investments by the end of 2015, he said. These resources need to be used to revive generating capacity assets, and the distribution and fuel grids. Kazakhstan requires $838 million in investments to upgrade its power stations' generating capacity before 2015, Bozumbayev said. The country will need $345 million for its generating units with a total capacity of 4,900 megawatts until 2010 and $225 million for generating units with a capacity of 2,500 megawatts in 2010-2015. Estimated investments of $230 million are needed to upgrade generating capacity at regional heat and power plants of 2,600 megawatts before 2010 and $38 million for stations of 560 megawatts in 2010-2015, Bozumbayev said. "Implementing the said measures will increase the capacity of existing equipment by more than one and a half times," Bozumbayev said. Kazakh power stations have a set capacity of 18,460 megawatts and a proposed capacity of 13,200 megawatts, "which is proof that existing generating capacity is significantly underused," he said. Bozumbayev said it was expedient to revive the sector's energy potential by upgrading large energy units with a capacity of 300-500 megawatts first of all. Kazakh power stations generated 63.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2003, compared to 87.38 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1990. Power output could reach the 1990 level by 2013. "If we keep growing at 5% to 10% a year, we will reach this figure by 2012-2013," Bozumbayev said. KEGOC property includes power cables of from 110 to 1,150 kilovolts and substations, forming a national power grid, in addition to a central dispatch department. Kazakhstan has 1,400 kilometers of public use power lines with a voltage of 1,150 kilovolts, more than 5,500 kilometers of lines of 500 kilovolts, more than 20,200 kilometers of 220 kilovolts, some 44,500 kilometers of 110 kilovolts, more than 62,000 kilometers of 35 kilovolts and some 204,000 kilometers of 6-10 kilovolts.

19.11.2004 Kazmortransflot oil transport in Caspian up 73%: http://www.interfax.com
Astana. (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's national shipping company Kazmortransflot shipped 3.078 million tonnes of oil in the Caspian Sea in the first nine months of the year, up 73% from 1.782 million tonnes in the same period last year, the company said in a press release. This was 51% of the oil exported from Kazakhstan's Aktau port in the period, according to the press release. Kazmortransflot shipped 1.795 million tonnes of oil to Makhachkala in the period, 44.2% more than planned. It shipped 1.113 million tonnes of oil to Iran's Neka port, which was 23.7% more than planned. The company in May resumed oil transport along the Baku-Batumi route and supplied 170,000 tonnes of oil in the period. It did not operate on this route in 2003. Kazmortransflot plans in 2005 to buy 11 ships to form a support fleet, according to the press release. It will buy two small tanker tugs, two ferries, three tugboats, and other ships to handle all transport of rock for Agip KCO to build artificial islands in the Caspian Sea for oil production. The company will also buy a research ship to forecast possible environmental emergencies in the Caspian Sea. The company paid 577 million tenge in taxes in the first nine months of the year. Kazmortransflot was formed in 1998 to develop sea transport. It has been operating since November 2001. The Transport and Communication Ministry and KazMunaiGaz hold equal shares in the company. The official exchange rate on November 10 was 131.21 tenge /$1.

new | july 2005 | november 2004 | october 2004 | september 2004 | august 2004