Silk Road Intelligencer.

Issue no. 039 (with The Conway Bulletin no. 117) Dec. 14 2012 (covering Dec. 8 - Dec. 13)

Your weekly newssheet covering the most important news from Kazakhstan
(formerly Kazakhstan News Extra) Edited in London editor@theconwaybulletin.com

ENERGY: Pipeline to China

China agreed to lend Kazakhstan $1.8b to build a gas pipeline across the country, Bloomberg news agency reported quoting the Kazakh state energy transport company KazTransGaz (Dec. 13). The pipeline will run from Beineu in the west to Shymkent in the south of Kazakhstan, part of a pipeline network that will stretch to China.
INT. RELATIONS: Baikonur quandaries

Confusion reigned over Kazakhstans plans for Baikonur, the space rocket launch site in the south that it has leased to Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. At the start of the week, media reported that Kazakhstan wanted to run the site jointly with Russia, a story it denied later in the week (Dec. 13).
MEDIA: Crackdown continues

The Kazakh authorities closed down the satellite TV station K-plus, local media reported, continuing their crackdown on opposition media outlets (Dec. 12). K-plus, like the other Kazakh opposition TV channel Stan TV, broadcast its programmes via the internet.
RELIGION: Tighening worship

SECURITY: Conscript sentenced for mass murder >>A guilty verdict hasnt stopped questions over the murder of 14 soldiers in a remote outpost Vladislav Chelakh may have confessed to the killing of 14 soldiers and a park ranger at a remote outpost on the border with China in May and a court on Dec. 11 in the southern city of Taldykorgan may also have found him guilty but doubt still lingers. The case has gripped Kazakhstan and many still believe that Chelakh, a thin 20-year-old army conscript, couldnt have killed that number of armed soldiers and a park ranger in his nearby hunting lodge. In his initial confession, Chelakh described how he had snapped after intense bullying. He had shot dead a sentry and then killed other soldiers sleeping inside the outpost. He was certainly the only survivor. The authorities found him a few days after the attack with cash and a stolen laptop. They also said that he had boasted of the killings to a fellow inmate while waiting for the trial to begin. Chelakh, though, soon retracted his confession, which he said he had made under duress. Alternative theories have been promoted by onlookers for the murders. How is it, they have said, that a conscript could kill 14 armed men? Alternative theories floating around are that either smugglers or Islamic extremists killed the soldiers. There are obvious flaws in these theories too. Regardless, Chelakh has begun a life sentence in one of Kazakhstans most perplexing crime mysteries. TELECOMS: Kcells London IPO

Forum18, the Oslo-based religion news agency, reported that the Kazakh authorities had started closing down Christian and Muslim places of worship which had failed last months re-registration process (Dec. 11). The authorities in Kazakhstan said they needed to re-register religious groups to clampdown on extremism.
SOCIETY: Renaming Astana

A civic group, which Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty described as "state-controlled", proposed renaming Astana, the capital city, as Nazarbayev (Dec. 11). Astana, which means capital in Kazakh, is one of President Nursultan Nazarbayevs pet projects. His critics have accused him of creating a personality cult.
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>>Kcells IPO marks an important step forward for Kazakh business It may have floated at the lower end of its proposed price range, but Kcells IPO in London on Dec. 12 was important as it allowed Western investors access to a major Kazakh company that wasnt focused on banking or natural resources. Global depositary receipts for Kcell sold for $10.50, the bottom of a range that had been given an upper estimate of $13. Shortly after the IPO, though, prices had already risen, showing investors appetite for the stock. And this is important. The global economy may be floundering but investors still clearly believe that buying stock in Kazakhstans largest mobile operator is worth the risk. The Kazakh economy has been growing steadily at roughly 5% a year and, although there have been murmurings, unrest and volatility have been kept to a minimum. Kazakhstan, then, investors appear to have decided, is a decent place to build a mobile phone network. In all, the IPO earned Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera $525m for the 25% stake in the company that it sold off. It now owns roughly 62% of Kcell.
Copyright 2012

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