On December 11, 2013, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Amangeldy Zhumabaev, told a press conference that his country was interested in transporting its goods along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway currently under construction—particularly for transporting Kazakhstani oil and grain(Tengrinews, December 11, 2013).Zhumabaev said, “For us it is very... MORE

One priority for Kazakhstan this year is to execute the country’s first comprehensive transportation infrastructure development plan, which the government drafted in collaboration with the World Bank and adopted last November (en.government.kz, November 16, 2013). The plan, which extends to 2020, aims to realize Kazakhstan’s... MORE

Following the publication of the “Kazakhstan-2050” strategy late in 2012, Central Asia’s biggest country carried out a series of structural reforms in 2013 aimed at modernizing its economic and social systems and optimizing its public finances. On January 16, President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the creation... MORE

Kazakhstan is seeking to expand legal cooperation in criminal cases with the United States and potentially sign a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Washington. During his visit to Washington on December 6, Kazakhstani Prosecutor-General Askhat Daulbayev discussed with US Attorney General Eric Holder expanding... MORE

On December 10, the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation met in Baku. Besides discussing various economic projects to boost mutual trade and investment, ministers from the two governments considered how to expand cultural exchanges.The two governments have repeatedly expressed disappointment with their low levels... MORE

Hungarian MOL and Wintershall of Germany have signed an agreement whereby MOL acquires ownership stakes in 14 offshore oil fields originally licensed to Wintershall in the North Sea. Signed in Budapest on December 13, the agreement is expected to be closed in early 2014 pending... MORE

On November 28, the deputy head of the Department for Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Anuar Tanalinov, said that his country was considering the possibility of taking part in the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. According to the Kazakhstani diplomat,... MORE

At the end of November, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan should aim to raise its GDP per capita fivefold, to $60,000 from the present $12,000, to join the ranks of the top 30 developed countries. Although Nazarbayev recognizes that Kazakhstan must overcome major challenges... MORE

Kazakhstan plans to introduce new anti-corruption legislation and to rid the judicial system of corruption. But the country has a long way to go to move up from 133rd place in the Corruption Perceptions Index, where it was listed by Transparency International in 2012. Ranked... MORE

Following the recent inter-ethnic clashes in Moscow’s Biryulyovo suburb in mid-October, a growing number of Russia-watchers have been predicting the forthcoming establishment of a new nationalist political party. As Russia’s economic growth is slowing down and the country’s political system is invariably corrupt and inefficient,... MORE