Page 62 - bne magazine February 2022_20220208

62 I Special focus I Kazakhstan bne February 2022
against a specific issue – rising vehicle fuel prices – to a more general anti- government movement becoming
a political protest.
“Apparently, the situation with street violence in Almaty, the financial center of the country, is out of control with military confrontation and numerous casualties,” Smolyaninov said. “Authorities ordered an anti-terrorist operation in Almaty in the evening of January 6 and called for military support from Russia, Belarus and other member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO].”
The instability and call for a Russia-led CSTO military intervention on the eve of key talks with the US and Nato over a new European security deal has been seen by investors as weakening Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hand going into the talks, which makes a quick resolution of tensions less likely. And that hurt Russian equity prices as well.
The Russian market reacted negatively even though Brent was back trading above $80, causing the leading dollar- denominated Russia Trading System (RTS) index to fall further to 1,540, or 20%, from its 1920 peak level seen at the end of October, said Smolyaninov.
Uranium production 'unaffected'
Kazakhstan's reputation for stability under Nursultan Nazarbayev, an autocrat who ruled for nearly three decades until 2019 but appears to have left the country amid the turmoil, helped attract hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment into its oil and metals industries, such as uranium extraction.
Kazatomprom , the world's biggest uranium producer, said on January 6 it was operating normally with no impact on production or exports. "Uranium mining is going according to plan there have been no stoppages. The company is fulfulling its export contracts,"
a Kazatomprom spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Uranium prices have, however, soared in recent days amid the unrest Kazakhstan, which produces more than 40% of the radioactive metal used in nuclear fuel.
Uranium surged almost 8% to $45.25 a pound on Wednesday from $42 Tuesday, according to UxC data.
Given Kazakhstan’s role as the world’s No. 1 uranium supplier, “it’d be like if the Saudis had issues in oil,” Jonathan
Hinze, president of UxC LLC, a leading nuclear fuel market research and analysis firm, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg, adding: “Even if there isn’t a shortage right now, the potential for this to create a shortage is what people now are trading on.”
Oil stoppage
In southwestern Mangistau province, where much of the country's rich
oil reserves are extracted, Chevron confirmed to Sky News on January 5 that it was working to end a stoppage at its Tengizchevroil venture.
On January 6, TheEdgeMarkets reported Reach Energy as announcing that its unit in Kazakhstan might
be affected by the country’s state of emergency declaration. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, Reach Energy noted that the government of Kazakhstan had declared a two-week emergency regime in Almaty and Mangistau province, where Emir-Oil LLP, the company’s sub-subsidiary is located.
Emir-Oil LLP holds the entire subsoil
use rights in an 850.3-square-kilometre onshore hydrocarbon exploration and production contracted area in Mangistau province.
Masimov’s downfall, from the corridors of power to a jail cell
Joanna Lillis for Eurasianet
Karim Masimov, a hitherto political heavyweight who
was sometimes tipped as presidential material, has experienced
a spectacular downfall as unrest roils Kazakhstan. First, he was fired from his powerful position as security chief, then he was arrested on treason charges. Eurasianet looks back at the career of the banker turned politician turned security hawk turned (alleged) coup conspirator.
Karim Masimov, Kazakhstan’s former security services chief and close ally of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, was arrested on suspicion of high treason.
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