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

The government of Kazakhstan is considering imposing severe penalties on the company or companies responsible for cost overruns and production delays at the supergiant Kashagan offshore oilfield. Deemed the largest oil discovery worldwide in the last 35-40 years, Kashagan is estimated to hold almost 2... MORE

Kazakhstan’s leaders have sought Moscow’s help to reduce crimes with security implications, such as membership in extremist groups or drug trafficking. On July 30, for example, Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry and the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control signed an agreement to cooperate in combating the... MORE

A shared opposition to the constant stream of drugs flowing from the poppy fields in Afghanistan is apparently one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia. Since Russia handed over responsibility for protecting the troubled Tajik-Afghan border to poorly equipped and... MORE

The party-list segment of Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections, set for August 18, will be an uphill battle for opposition political forces in Kazakhstan. For all their irreconcilable differences and divergent policies, the assorted opposition contenders all must face the formidable, pro-presidential Nur Otan People’s Democratic Party.... MORE