Page 61 - bne magazine February 2022_20220208

bne February 2022 Kazakhstan I Special focus I 61
The Russian defence ministry on January 6 released video footage of its military "peacekeeping troops" heading into Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan upheaval impacts country’s banks, bonds, equities and uranium and
oil industries
communications were disconnected and the internet was closed down by the operator Kazakhtelecom.
Sovereign bonds hit
Kazakhstan’s sovereign bonds were hit as the crisis rapidly escalated and Russian paratroopers were dispatched to assist the ex-Soviet state’s regime.
January 6 saw Kazakhstan's 2045 dollar bond, which had its worst day since the peak of the COVID-19 panic in March 2020 on January 5, slide further, falling as much as 1 cent and nearing 20-month lows.
With a solid macroeconomic position Kazakhstan’s debt has been seen as relatively stable. The nation’s debt lost 2.9% last year, according to a Bloomberg index tracking sovereign dollar bonds from emerging markets, so obligations have already lost more value in the first days of January than in all of last year.
Kazakh equities fall in London
The protests this week hit Kazakhstan companies listed in London, mostly raw material producers, with the local exchange in Almaty closed.
“From the market perspective, we note the clear impact on local stocks that were hit in London on January 5, led by internet company Kaspi.kz, down c30% yesterday and another 12% on January
bne IntelIiNews
All of Kazakhstan's financial organisations including its banks and stock market remained suspended on January 6 amid the country’s social unrest, according to the press secretary of the National Bank of the Republic, Olzhas Ramazanova.
"The Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the Regulation and Development of the Financial Market and the National Bank of Kazakhstan, taking into account the conduct of counterterrorist operations ... and taking into account temporary disruptions in the Internet ... report the temporary suspension of the activities of all financial organisations," Khabar 24 TV channel quoted him as saying.
Ramazanova also said that the measure was aimed at protecting the life and health of employees and clients of financial institutions, although there are reports of inhabitants of the capital Nur-Sultan and largest Kazakh city and commercial capital Almaty – scene of
the biggest deadly clashes between protesters and law enforcement and troops during the week’s unrest – going hungry due to the closure of ATMs [Watch video below]. With the internet
“There are reports of inhabitants of the capital Nur-Sultan and largest Kazakh city and commercial capital Almaty going hungry due to the closure of ATMs”
down, shops cannot process digital payments and are demanding cash, unavailable due to the offline ATMs.
Also closed amid the crisis in Kazakhstan’s were the country’s
three main airports, with all flights cancelled on January 6. With a state of emergency in place, entry to the country to foreigners has been temporarily suspended, RIA reported. Earlier in Nur-Sultan, and in Alma-Ata, telephone
6,” Slava Smolyaninov, head of strategy at BSC GM said in a note.
Equity investors were caught out by the Kazakh demonstrations, which came out of nowhere and hit in the middle of Eastern Europe’s extended Christmas and Orthodox New Year holidays that run to January 14.
The leaderless revolution rapidly expanded and morphed from protests
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