The unprecedented tough line taken by the Kazakh government in its row with the Italian Agip consortium may set an ominous precedent for prolonged confrontations with other Western companies. In a second challenge to Western investment, the district court in Atyrau region recently upheld the... MORE

At last week’s energy summit of Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian countries, hosted by Lithuania in Vilnius (see EDM, October 12), Kazakhstan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sauat Mynbayev provided a remarkably detailed picture of the country’s oil export policies, both ongoing and projected. Oil... MORE

The steeply rising price of bread in all regions of Kazakhstan, coming in the wake of controversial parliamentary elections, has fueled popular discontent with the ruling Nur Otan party and become an embarrassment for the government. Recently a group of protesters picketed the Almaty office... MORE

The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has just finished a series of anti-terror exercises staged by Russia's National Anti-Terror Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB), codenamed “Baikonur-Anti-Terror 2007” (Itar-Tass, September 26). Established by the USSR in 1955, Baikonur is the world's oldest and largest continuously... MORE

The ongoing dispute between the Kazakh government and the Italian Agip KCO oil consortium reached a critical point when Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, addressing the second Eurasian Energy Forum held in Astana on September 6, issued what sounded like an ultimatum. He clearly articulated... MORE

Paolo Scaroni, head of Italy’s ENI-Agip, which operates Kazakhstan’s super giant Kashagan oil field, is arriving in Astana to discuss compensation for repeated failures to start production on time and within budget. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has also announced that he would go to... MORE

The August 18 snap elections for Kazakhstan’s national parliament and local assemblies brought, as predicted, a landslide victory for President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party. With amazing speed, on the morning of August 19 the Central Election Committee announced that Nur Otan had gained 88.5%... MORE

Kazakhstan’s National Security Service (KNB) is continuing to crack down heavily on the activities of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Islamic Party of Liberation. According to the KNB press service, on August 24 intelligence officers disrupted a cell of the banned religious party in Mangistau Region (western Kazakhstan).... MORE

On August 9 Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev met Jordan’s King Abdallah II in Astana, confirming his intention to expand ties between the two countries. In addition to Jordan, Kazakhstan is also pursuing closer bilateral relations with Egypt as part of an overture to the Middle... MORE