Oil-rich Kazakhstan’s prime minister resigns

[Dover]

Oil-rich Kazakhstan’s prime minister resigns

By Associated Press
Monday, January 8, 2007 - Updated: 07:28 AM EST

ALMATY, Kazakhstan - The prime minister of oil-rich Kazakhstan resigned Monday in the wake of criticism of his performance by the heavy-handed president of the Central Asian country.

Daniyal Akhmetov, who served as prime minister since 2003, offered his resignation at a Cabinet meeting, thanking President Nursultan Nazarbayev for "the high honor and trust shown to me," the government’s press office said in a statement.

No reason was given for the move, which will lead to the appointment of a new government. Akhmetov had come under Nazarbayev’s criticism for poor strategic planning, overspending and other mistakes. Following his re-election in late 2005, Nazarbayev weakened Akhmetov’s role in his Cabinet.

Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan as president since its independence in 1991 and has long resisted democratic reforms, regularly replaces his prime ministers as he tries to secure his position and balance interests of various powerful elite groups....>

http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=175962&format=text

[sniffa]

1. there is probLem in my country

and that probLem is transport....

[AnnieBW]

2. Vill Be Replaced By

Number 16 prostitute in the entire country!

[stillcool]

3. without fail...everytime I look for...

U.S. involvement in a foreign country's affairs, I find it...

http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/2005/42065.htm
Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs
Kazakhstan
2005 INVESTMENT CLIMATE STATEMENT -- KAZAKHSTAN
Openness to Foreign Investment

Kazakhstan has made significant progress toward creating a
market economy since its independence in 1991. The European
Union in 2000 and the U.S. Department of Commerce in March
2002 recognized the success of Kazakhstan's reforms by
granting it market economy status. Kazakhstan also has
attracted significant foreign investment since independence.
By September 2004, foreign investors had invested a gross
amount of about $29.5 billion in Kazakhstan,primarily in the
oil and gas sector, during the country's thirteen years of
independence,. Following independence, the government
created a favorable regime for oil and gas investments at
the same time that it undertook other liberalizing economic
measures and began an ambitious privatization program.

This record of market-oriented reform and successful
attraction of investment has been progressively undermined
over the last four years by a growing tendency on the part
of the government to challenge contractual rights, to
legislate preferences for domestic companies, and to create
mechanisms for government intervention in foreign companies'
operations, particularly procurement decisions. Together
with vague and contradictory legal provisions that are often
arbitrarily and inconsistently enforced, these negative
tendencies feed a growing perception that Kazakhstan is
becoming less open to investment.

Largest Investments as of 2004:

1. TengizChevrOil (TCO). TCO, a joint venture (50% owned
by Chevron Texaco, 25% by Exxon Mobil, 20% by the Government
of Kazakhstan, and 5% by LucArco) was formed as part of a 40-
year, $20 billion agreement signed in 1993. By 2001, the
joint venture partners had invested more than $2.1 billion
in TCO. In 2002 TCO produced nearly 300,000 bpd. As of
June 2003, TCO was implementing a $3.5-4 billion, three-year
expansion project to increase production to 570,000 bpd.
TCO member companies are also major shareholders in the
Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline from the Caspian
across southern Russia to the Black Sea. The $2.5 billion
pipeline began transporting Tengiz crude to world markets in
2001. CPC shareholders hope to more than double pipeline
capacity to transport increased TCO volumes.