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APRIL, 2002
Kazakh Scandals Throw Spotlight on Democracy 4/28/02
A Eurasianet Partner Post from Transitions Online
Allegations of corruption at all levels dominated the Kazakh
news this week. In a scandal that raises numerous questions
about the role of U.S. oil companies in the region, and how
Washington’s interests in oil and democratization co-exist,
the governor of the Kazakh National Bank came out on 17 April
in support of President Nursultan Nazarbaev's decision to
divert more than $1 billion into a secret national oil fund.
Link
to full text
Kazakh MPs again "demand explanations" of foreign accounts
from premier
Excerpt from report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency Astana,
24 April: Majlis (the lower house of the Kazakh parliament)
deputy Zeynulla Makashev has proposed setting up a commission
to clarify the situation around the country's secret foreign
bank accounts abroad, which the republic's leaders allegedly
had at their disposal as private accounts. He said at a plenary
session in the house today that the commission should be made
up of MPs and government members. Zeynulla Makashev asked
his fellow MPs to stop "continually inflating the topic of
secret accounts" since this, in his opinion, "engenders various
rumours" among the country's population and the media. An
Interfax-Kazakhstan [news] agency correspondent has reported
that Zeynulla Makashev put forward the proposal to set up
the commission due to the fact that during the session a number
of deputies had again put to Kazakh Prime Minister Imangali
Tasmagambetov an MP query, in which they demanded explanations
on the subject of secret foreign funds. [Passage to end omitted:
Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov told parliament in early
April that the government had set up a secret hard-currency
fund in foreign banks in 1996, following an official query
made by two MPs in mid-March this year.] Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan
news agency, Almaty, in Russian 1106 gmt 24 Apr 02 BBC Mon
CAU 250402 va/dg
Echoes of Venezuela Reverberate in Eurasia
A EurasiaNet Commentary by Ariel Cohen: 4/23/02
The repercussions of the failed coup against Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez extended halfway across the world to the shores
of the Caspian, where the leaders of the littoral nations
are set to meet to discuss dividing the sea's abundant energy
resources. Instability in Venezuela, the world's fourth-largest
oil supplier, has Eurasian states scrambling to seize the
moment of opportunity for their own energy sectors.
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Azeri oil fund assets stand at 537m dollars
Text of report by Azerbaijani newspaper Xalq Qazeti on 19
April entitled "State Oil Fund report"
The State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijani Republic reports that
in the first quarter of the year its income totaled 226,755,700,000
manats and expenditures amounted to 4,457,200,000 manats.
As of 1 April 2002, the reserves of the Oil Fund totalled
2,593,786,000,000 manats or 537,600,000 dollars. Source: Xalq
Qazeti, Baku, in Azeri 19 Apr 02 p 1 BBC Mon TCU 190402 bk/fm
Kazakh
president denies misuse of fund: Dollars 1bn in oil profit
in Swiss account went to pensions and to bolster currency
Financial Times; Apr 16, 2002 By ANTHONY ROBINSON and DAVID
STERN
Kazakh Watchdog Organization To Track Hydrocarbon
RFER/RL
Opposition leaders from western Kazakhstan's oil-producing
regions announced they have created an organization called
the People's Oil Fund in order to monitor the government's
financial activities, RFE/RL reported on 15 April. The move
follows Prime Minister Imanghali Tasmaghambetov's admission
earlier this month that President Nursultan Nazarbaev created
a secret foreign bank account in 1996 containing some $1 billion
that the Kazakh government received from selling a stake in
the Tengiz oil field, although he denied that any of the money
was for Nazarbaev's personal use (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
4 April 2002). The founders of the People's Oil Fund said
they hope to promote transparency in the government and to
expose any other secret hoards of public money held by "high-ranking
bureaucrats in Astana," RFE/RL reported. The organization
called on the government to make earnings from oil and gas
projects public while maintaining that only about $300 million
of an estimated $4-5 billion in annual revenues go into the
national budget. Meanwhile, on 15 April, Nazarbaev received
the visiting CEO of ChevronTexaco, David O'Reilly, and awarded
him with the government Order of Kurmet (Respect) "for
making a great contribution to developing Kazakhstan's economy,"
Khabar TV reported. AA
Spotlight
on Central Asia Is Finding Repression, Too
The New York Times; April 11, 2002
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Kazakhstani Prime Minister Admits to Existence of Secret
Government Fund
Aldar Kusainov: 4/5/02
Seeking to defuse a looming financial scandal allegedly involving
top government officials in Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Imangali
Tasmagambetov disclosed to members of parliament that authorities
used revenue from the Tengiz oil field tender to establish
a secret fund. He also admitted April 4 the possible existence
of foreign bank accounts in President Nursultan Nazarbayev's
name, but denied the head of state had a role in opening them.
Link
to full text
Kazakh Premier Explains Rationale for Secret Foreign Bank
Account
RFE/RL
Addressing parliament on 4 April, Imanghaliy Tasmaghambetov
admitted that a secret foreign bank account was established
in 1996 containing some $1 billion that the Kazakh government
received from the sale of a 20 percent stake in the vast Tengiz
oilfield, gazeta.kz reported. Tasmaghambetov explained that
transferring those funds to Kazakhstan at that time would
have resulted in massive inflation, so President Nursultan
Nazarbaev took it upon himself to create a secret oil fund,
for use in the event of either an economic crisis or a threat
to Kazakhstan's security, into which that $1 billion was paid.
Then-Premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin approved the creation of
the fund, Tasmaghambetov said. Part of those funds was used
in 1997 to pay pensions arrears, and more in 1998 at the time
of the Russian ruble devaluation, and what remained was transferred
in 2001 into the National Fund, Tasmaghambetov said. But when
the National Fund was first created, it was said to comprise
the $660 million that Kazakhstan received from the sale the
previous year to Chevron Overseas of a further 5 percent stake
in the Tengizchevroil joint venture (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
1 February 2001). Tasmaghambetov denied that Nazarbaev has
either real estate or a personal bank account abroad. Western
journalists have discovered Swiss bank accounts in the name
of President Nazarbaev that many believe contain multimillion-dollar
bribes paid by Western oil companies. LF
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