Almaty, May 19
INTERFAX-KAZAKHSTAN
In the two months the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) will, possibly, abandon the obligatory sale of the enterprises of 50% of their export hard currency profit. It was announced by the chairman of the NBK board Kadyrzhan Damitov at the press-conference on Wednesday.
To soften the sequences of the shift to the free floating regime, from April 12 NBK introduced the temporary sale of 50% of the hard currency revenue at the Kazakhstan stock exchange.
According to K. Damitov, at present NBK does not think that the sale of the export revenue �should be a constant measure.�
However, he stated, �it will be abandoned only in that moment, when the market is better adapted to the new regime,� that, in his opinion, �has already almost happened.�
The head of NBK announced, it would be very important to combine the abandonment of the hard currency revenue with the measures which would be intended for the more thorough monitoring to following activity of the big enterprises.
K. Damitov considers it to allow to follow more accurately money flows, export and import transactions, taxation of the economic subjects, as well as to follow the rate policy.
The Ministry of State Revenues is working thoroughly over this problem, he said.
As far as the refinancing rate is concerned, in K. Damitov�s opinion, if we take into consideration the current inflation (for the first four months inflation was 5.2% � �IF-K�), �the refinancing rate of 25% is very overestimated.�
However, if we take into consideration the rates of interest in the financial market, the refinancing rate, according to the chairman of NBK, �is adequate.�
Under the conditions of the new economic regime, the market needs some time to determine the optimal rate. Though, it will happen only when subjects of the market get used somehow to the free floating rate.
K. Damitov declared, in general �the refinancing rate may be reduced.� �It is only required to watch and to wait for the market�s reaction,� he said.
Yerkanat ABENI
ALMATY, May 19
(THE GLOBE)
The Islamic Bank of Development (IBD) increases financing of separate objects from US$ 15 million to US$ 20 million. It was announced on May 19 in Almaty by the IBD vice-president Osman Sek. He stated that all loans are allotted to Kazakhstan on the privileged basis for the period of 25 years with a 7-years delay of the main payments.
According to Osman Sek, the objective of the IBD mission is to held the meetings with the heads of some Ministries and departments of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During these meetings the possibility of financing of the potential investment projects by the Islamic Bank, as well as their realisation in 1999 to 2000 under the three-years program for 2000 to 2003, was discussed. The chairman of the board of the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) emphasised, IBD would finance mainly the big infrastructure projects, in particular industry, construction, communications, water-supply, education, healthcare, private and fiscal sectors. Kadyrzhan Damitov stated, that at present IBD had determined 9 to 10 big objects to be financed. Besides, the head of the NBK announced, the efforts of the IBD along with the other donors, such as the World Bank and Asian bank of Development, will be directed to the agricultural projects.
Mr. Damitov stated, as then the total volume of loans allotted to Kazakhstan by IBD, including projects under ratification, was US$ 60 million, out of which US$ 40 million had been already utilised.
The Islamic Bank of Development expressed its willingness to open the credit line for the three big commercial banks of Kazakhstan under the state guarantees, which will be directed to crediting the subjects of the small and middle-sized business, Oman Sek said.
Kadyrzhan Damitov announced, an agreement for the loan in the amount of US$ 9.5 million intended for realisation of the project �Road Almaty-Gulshad� (Karagandy region, Balkhash district) had been signed between IBD and the government of Kazakhstan.
As on the end of 1998 the Share Capital of IBD was 3.761 billion Islamic dynars. By the end of 1998 the total finance resources of IBD were 3.345 billion Islamic dynars, that approximately US$ 4.512 billion.
From August 1997 IBD has the regional representative office in Almaty for the states-members of IBD and the Muslim communities in the CIS countries, Mongolia, China, and Eastern Europe.
We remind you, 53 states are members of IBD. Out of the CIS countries Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are the members of IBD. On May 16, 1996 the Republic of Kazakhstan ratified the IBD Constitutive Agreement, signed in Jidda on August 12, 1974.
KAZAKHSTAN NOT PESSIMISTIC ON OIL PROJECTS WITH UNITED STATES
ALMATY, May 19 (Interfax-Kazakhstan) Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev has said he does not have a pessimistic outlook for oil projects with U.S. companies in Kazakhstan and Russia despite Russian-U.S. tensions over the Balkans.
Tokayev attended the ceremony of laying the first stone for a new oil terminal in Novorossiisk within the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) project. Oil will be pumped from the Tengiz deposit in western Kazakhstan to the terminal.
�As any other project, CPC involves difficulties and risks,� Tokayev said at a video press conference Wednesday. �Kazakhstan will work toward implementation of this project no matter what; it is a top priority for us.� The United States �is quite optimistic with regard to this project,� he said.
EBRD MAY HELP FINANCE IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE
YEREVAN, May 19 (Interfax-PIA) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is prepared to participate in financing the construction of a gas pipeline between Iran and Armenia, Armenian Minister for Coordination of Industrial Structures Gagik Martirosian toldthe Interfax Petroleum Information Agency.
Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and French companies Gaz de France and Schlumberger gave their consent to join the consortium for building the pipeline, Martirosian said. �The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is not merely our problem; it�s everyone�s problem,� he said.
EBRD representative in Armenia Alkis Drakinos confirmed the bank�s interest in this project.
EBRD experts will visit Armenia this summer, Drakinos said. They will prepare a decision on the bank�s participation in the project�s financial scheme, he said. EBRD�s authority will help attract more foreign investors to the project, he said. French and U.S. companies have expressed their intention to join the consortium, he said. �These are precisely the partners we want to work with,� Drakinos said.
The Armenian Energy Ministry values the project at $120 million. The pipeline is to stretch 100 kilometers through Iran and 40 kilometers through Armenia. Its initial capacity will be 1 million cubic meters per day, and it will reach 5.5 million cubic meters per day after the overhaul of Armenia�s internal pipelines.
From 1 billion cubic meters to 3 billion cubic meters of gas can be pumped through the pipeline from Iran�s Southern Pars fieldto northeastern Turkey, experts said.
U.S. INVESTMENT IN UZBEKISTAN REACHES $400 MLN
TASHKENT, May 19 (Interfax) The United States has invested around $400 million in Uzbekistan, Jan Kalicki, U.S. Trade Department official in charge of energy and trade ties with the CIS, said at a briefing in Tashkent on Tuesday.
More than 75 U.S. companies are represented in Uzbekistan, and the American Chamber of Commerce was accredited there last year, Kalicki said.
However, business relations between Uzbekistan and the United States are dwindling rather than expanding, he said. Seventeen U.S. companies closed down their representative offices in Uzbekistan last year, and Uzbekistan�s foreign trade fell 30% last year, he said.
Kalicki said he supported Uzbek President Islam Karimov�s call for the parliament to drastically review Uzbekistan�s system of foreign trade. Uzbekistan should aim at joining the World Trade Organization, introducing a conversion of the national currency by 2000 and curbing state interference in the free market economy, Karimov said.
A joint statement was signed after a session of the bilateral committee on trade, investment and energy, Kalicki said. The statement stipulates efforts toward a passage of a new largescale law on oil and gas in parliament. This would boost investment in the energy sector and broaden contacts between the two countries� businessmen, Kalicki said.
INFLATION RATE IN TURKMENISTAN AT 3% IN APRIL
ASHGABAT, May 19 (Interfax) The inflation rate on the Turkmen consumer market amounted to 3% in April 1999, compared to 3.1% last month. In April the subsistence level grew by 5.7%; in March, by 3.7%.
In the first four months of 1999, the inflation rate amounted to 12.8%,comparedto11.1%inthesameperiodlastyear, Turkmenstatprognoz (National Institute for Statistics and Prognosis) told Interfax. The average monthly wage in the first quarter amounted to 393,600 manats (5,200 manats/$1), which is 40% more than in the first quarter of 1998.
TURKMENISTAN�S FOREIGN TRADE BALANCE POSITIVE IN FIRST QUARTER
MOSCOW, May 19 (Interfax) Turkmenistan had a $101.5 million foreign trade surplus in the first quarter of 1999, compared with a deficit of $131 million in the same period last year, sources in the National Institute of Statistics and Forecasts told Interfax.
This year, the foreign trade surplus was due to the export of natural gas.
Turkmen exports in the first quarter of 1999 increased by 180% compared with the first three months of 1998, totalling $367.1 million. Gas accounted for 63.7% of the exports, cotton fiber 16.3%, petroleum products 6.9%, cotton yarn 3% and oil 2.5%.
SUPPLIES OF UZBEK GAS TO KYRGYZSTAN DISCONTINUED
BISHKEK, May 19 (Interfax) Gas supplies will be discontinued to Bishkek and elsewhere in Kyrgyzstan on May 19 because the Kyrgyz gas company has failed to agree with the Kazakh side on the resumption of the transit of Uzbek gas to the northern part of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Boris Silayev told Interfax.
Kyrgyzstan owes Kazakhstan $2.2 million for the gas transit, he said.
On the other hand, Kazakhstan owes Kyrgyzstan over $20 million for electricity supplies, Silayev said. The economic relations between the two countries �cannot be described as fraternal,� he said.
Kyrgyzstan paid last year�s $3.3 million debt for gas supplies to Kazakhstan with flour, Silayev said.
FUTURES CONTRACTS FOR TAJIK COTTON NOT BEING EXECUTED FULLY
DUSHANBE, May 19 (Interfax) The futures contracts for supplies of raw cotton, which were concluded by Tajikistan and Swiss banks Credit Suisse First Boston and Paul Reinthard, are being unsatisfactorily executed, Tajik Prime Minister Yakhie Azimov said at a meeting of the heads of ministries and agencies of the cotton producing industry.
Cotton enterprises of the Khatlon region shipped just 32,000 tonnes of raw cotton to Paul Reinthard in January through May, which is only 53% of the amount stipulated in the contracts, Azimov said.
Tajikistan produced around 385,000 tonnes of raw cotton last year, up from 358,000 tonnes in 1997. The figure is projected at 600,000 this year.
Credit Suisse First Boston and Paul Reinthard have invested $100 million in the Tajik cotton industry.
Askar DARIMBET
ALMATY, May 18
(THE GLOBE)
�As on May 1, 1999, the pension accumulations in Kazakhstan came to more than 6.5 billion tenge, that was by 58% more than for the same period in 1998,� the acting head of the committee on regulation of the activity of the pension accumulating funds announced in Almaty on May 18.
Saken Amanzholov added, for the time of existence of the accumulating system, the volume of revenues to the pension accumulating funds (PAF) was approximately 40 billion tenge, the total amount of the paid pensions was 457.3 million tenge, including in April 1999 � 105.56 million tenge.
The specific weight of the state accumulating pension fund (SAPF) in the total volume of the pension accumulations in the Republic of Kazakhstan was 72.4%, he remarked. According to Mr. Amanzholov, pension assets were mainly invested to the state securities. However, the Eurobonds appeared in the investment portfolio of the SAPF in the autumn of 1998, and soon they were purchased by the non-state pension accumulating funds. At presents the Eurobonds are 75% of their investment portfolio.
He emphasised, that after the introduction of the free floating rate, the main mass of the pension assets of the SAPF was converted. As far as the private pension funds are concerned, the volume of their conversion was 14.7%, as they had significant volumes of the Eurobonds. The population�s pension savings are completely saved, beside that for April they increased by about 9 billion tenge.
According to Mr. Amanzholov, from the beginning of 1998, the bonus in the amount of 11719.8 million tenge have been calculated, including for the four months of 1999 � 10113 million tenge. For April this amount was 8748.2 million tenge.
Mr. Amanzholov stated, that individual pension accounts in SAPF had been opened for 3362940 persons. As on May 1, the number of depositors to the non-state pension accumulating funds exceeded 782000 persons, for the four months the number of depositors increased by 122293 persons, including in April 26173 persons, that proves trust to the private pension funds is being growing.
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