MAJOR KAZAKSTANI BANK EXPANDS INTO OIL.

Kazkommertsbank, Kazakstan’s largest and best-known commercial bank, is moving to acquire equity stakes in oil-related firms undergoing privatization. (Interfax, March 16) The bank intends to reduce the number of firms for which it is serving as the government’s official privatization consultant, so that it may participate in the tenders for ownership in the firms. This choice is necessitated by a combination of a March 4 government ruling that reduced the number of tenders in which the bank may serve as its official consultant, and pre-existing legislation that prohibits banks from serving both as consultants and purchasers of firms undergoing privatization.

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