Bob Zoellick used his three-day trip to Kazakhstan to announce a $2.5 billion infrastructure project together with Prime Minister Massimov. A trade corridor linking China and Europe by road has long been in the planning pipeline. It will go from Khorgos near the Chinese border to a place I couldn’t locate on the map. […]
Via a friend, my attention is drawn to this video here. It shows the concept study of a massive lightshow for Astana’s 10-year anniversary. It really is worth watching despite the fact that it is what it is: a concept that is not going to be realised. The music is also […]
Granted, Capital isn’t the most original name for a nation’s capital. When the Kazakh government (many believe it has been president Nazarbaev’s rather risky initiative) decided to move the country’s administration from leafy Almaty to the rather dusty Akmola ten years ago, they thought that White Grave, Akmola’s literal translation wasn’t the perfect […]
Amid surging food prices worldwide, and institutions such as the World Bank warning of a global food crisis, Kazakhstan has decided to ban wheat exports until September. The reason for Kazakhstan’s move is to curb domestic inflation, in part spurred by growing wheat prices.
The question right now is whether the government will also ban […]
…says President Nazarbayev in response to growing signs of an economic slowdown:
“The fact that economic growth rates for sometime will be slowed down will do Kazakhstan good.
The breakneck growth of the last couple of years has come along with heightened inflation, a real estate boom, and unprecedented credit expansion. In some sense thus, Nazarbayev […]
German journalist Marcus Bensmann was attacked in Astana yesterday night, and is currently on his way to Germany for treatment to his serious injuries.
Kazakh media said Tuesday that the attackers, who got away, beat him up, robbed him and and dumped him lifeless next to a highway with the temperature 35 degrees below zero […]
I chose a German advertising slogan as this post’s title for a lack of alternatives (well, one was: ‘Screw yourself in Kazakhstan’). Why? IKEA decided to enter the Kazakhstani market.
Ikea, the world’s largest home-furnishing retailer, plans to invest $500 million opening its first two shopping malls in Kazakhstan as economic growth fuels increased spending […]
***Update: Just two minutes after I posted this, I see the reports popping up on Google News: “KazMunaiGas reaches deal with Kashagan partners” (Reuters). No details have been announced yet, so a proper update to this story will have to wait until tomorrow.***
The Russian news agency Interfax featured a very explosive exclusive in its […]
This post is part of neweurasia’s cross-blog survey “2007 in Retrospect”. For an introduction and links to all posts published under this heading, please go to the dedicated site on our homebase. You can also vote for the most important event of 2007 in our online poll.
2007 - the year of black gold. With […]
Roadsign to the Koshanai Village site of the Koshanai Cuttings, OilyWater Treatment Facility. (c) FOEE
Kashagan, Kashagan, Kashagan - it’s all over the news: Which additional stake will Kazmunaigaz be able to take over from the international consortium? Is Exxon going to continue playing its hardball tactics? Is ENI going to remain the sole operator?
Besides the […]
