Page 669 – The Times Of Central Asia

28 Jun 2024

Central Asia, International Affairs, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry Accuses David Cameron of “Misinformation”

June 28, 2024
By Times of Central Asia

The Russian prankster duo Vovan and Lexus (real names Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov) have published an audio recording of them in conversation with the British foreign minister, David Cameron. In the call to Cameron they introduced themselves as the former president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. The hoax call made reference to the Kazakh foreign minister, Murat Nurtleu.

Kuznetsov and Stolyarov claimed to Cameron that Nurtleu had spoken to ‘Poroshenko’ about the sacrifices that the Ukrainian people are making for Kazakhstan by fighting to contain Russia. There is a theory that were Russia to win its war against Ukraine, its next target would be the territories of northern Kazakhstan, which border the Russian Federation.

Cameron appears not to have realized that he was being hoaxed. During the conversation he said that he didn’t not think that the current Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy should complain about Ukraine not being able to join NATO. Cameron also said that he did not know how US presidential candidate Donald Trump would handle the situation in Ukraine if he returned to power in America’s November elections.

The Kazakh foreign ministry has dismissed Cameron’s alleged part in the conversation as “misinformation”. Its spokesperson Aibek Smadiyarov commented: “There was no such conversation; the British minister bears all responsibility for misinformation.”

28 Jun 2024

Home, Justice, International Affairs, Kazakhstan Justice, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Features, Kazakhstan Featurees

Kazakh Tourists Who Left Greece Face Charges in Island Fire

June 28, 2024
By Times of Central Asia

The Greek authorities have charged eight Kazakh citizens with complicity in arson after a forest fire that was allegedly caused by fireworks on the tourist island of Hydra, according to Greek media. Some of the tourists are believed to be wealthy, prominent figures in Kazakhstan and the case has stirred anger in Greece, which has experienced high temperatures and wildfires in recent weeks.

The Kazakh tourists were on a luxury boat near Hydra around the time of the fire on the night of June 21, but are unlikely to appear in a Greek court soon because they left Greece by plane on the morning after the blaze. Media reports say a number of minors with the Kazakh group have not been charged. Greek outlet tovima.com said the charge was a misdemeanor.

The captain and 12 crew-members of the vessel Persephone were charged with the felony of arson and authorities are investigating how the boat passengers from Kazakhstan were able to leave the country before they could be questioned. The charges against the Kazakh tourists came after investigators found the remains of firecrackers on a Hydra beach and concluded that the passengers were on the beach at the time. Initial reports said fireworks were fired from the boat but have since been discounted.

Greek authorities have asked their Kazakh counterparts for help in the case, reported Kathimerini, a Greek newspaper. Another media outlet, Proto Thema, said “the only possibility” that the suspects could be brought to court is if they return voluntarily to Greece, though it also said they could theoretically be subject to arrest and transfer to Greece if they are found in another European country.

Citing a “manifest obtained by journalists,” the OCCRP, an investigative reporting group, listed the names of some of the Kazakh passengers who were on the Persephone. The names are now circulating in Greek media, with some reports referring to them as “oligarchs.”

27 Jun 2024

Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan Business & Economy, Uzbekistan International Affairs

First Electric Vehicles Roll Off China’s BYD Assembly Line in Uzbekistan

October 8, 2024
By Times of Central Asia

On June 27, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev joined his Chinese partners in witnessing the start of production of electric vehicles at the BYD Uzbekistan Factory in Jizzakh.

The visit marked the completion of first phase of the project which will have the capacity to manufacture 50,000 electric vehicles per year. Costing $160 million, the plant is furnished with modern equipment and robotic systems from China, as well as a laboratory for high-precision testing of the geometric dimensions of electric vehicles.

The plant currently manufactures the Chazor and Song Plus Champion and President Mirziyoyev left his signature on the first electric car that rolled off the assembly line.

In the coming years, the range of models will expand. During the second phase, costing $300 million, manufacture will increase to up to 200 thousand electric vehicles per year, and in the third stage, at a further cost of $500 million, up to 500 thousand vehicles.

In tandem with the rising volume of vehicles produced at the plant, local production of related parts will also increase. Starting with bumpers, glass, varnished and plastic parts, plans are in place to establish new enterprises to produce batteries, electric motors, aluminium parts, tires, and seats.

The plant currently employs 1.2 thousand people and once all three stages are complete, the number of jobs will reach 10 thousand.

27 Jun 2024

Central Asia, Home, Justice, Kazakhstan Justice, Kazakhstan, Features

Kuandyk Bishimbayev Murder Sentence Appeal Rejected

June 28, 2024
By Times of Central Asia

On June 26 an appeal court in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana upheld the 24-year prison sentence for murder handed down to the country’s former minister of national economy, Kuandyk Bishimbayev.

On 13 May Bishimbayev, a minister in the government of Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev, was found guilty of killing his common-law wife, Saltanat Nukenova, at a restaurant in Astana late last year.

The appeal court ruling states: “The judicial board decides that the verdict of the Specialized Interdistrict Court on criminal cases of Astana from May 13, 2024, in respect of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, made with the participation of jurors, should be left unchanged.”

The owner of the restaurant where Nukenova was murdered, Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, was found guilty of harboring a particularly serious crime. Baizhanov was sentenced to four years in prison in a medium security penal institution. His sentence has also been upheld.

During the trial, as public outrage over Nukenova’s killing simmered in Kazakhstan, president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new law in April in line with OECD standards which tightens the penalties for domestic violence and provides more help for survivors. The legislation became widely-dubbed, “Saltanat’s Law.”

Bishimbayev’s lawyer, Nazken Kusainova, has commented that Bishimbayev intends to make further appeals to the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan and the Human Rights Committee.

27 Jun 2024

Central Asia, Environment, Home, Kyrgyzstan Environment, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan Local Politics, Business & Economy, Kyrgyzstan Business & Economy, Features

Will Kumtor’s ‘Tails’ Benefit or Harm Kyrgyzstan?

June 28, 2024
By Times of Central Asia

The Finnish company Metso is set to develop a tailings pond at Kyrgyzstan’s Kumtor goldmine but local environmentalists are sceptical, claiming that recycling the waste will bring more damage to the environment than economic benefits.

“Tailings” are liquid and solid metal (pulp) remnants of ore processing and according to various estimates, Kumtor’s tailings pond contains 70 to 130 tons of gold that could not be mined at the plant. The remnants of precious metal with harmful waste are mothballed, making secondary mining extremely difficult.

The Kyrgyz government however, believes that cooperation with the Finns could provide the state with an annual revenue of some $3.5 billion.

Isakbek Torgoev, head of the geo-environmental monitoring laboratory at the Institute of Geomechanics and Subsoil Development of Kyrgyzstan and a candidate of technical sciences, told the Times of Central Asia that the Kumtor tailings pond, grandiose in volume, has over a hundred million tailings.

“Throughout the entire phase of the mine -over 30 years – ores were taken from different parts of the Kumtor deposit. At times, ores containing 1.8 grams of gold per ton were dumped in the tailings pond. By comparison, at the Boruu gold mine in Mongolia, that amount of gold is contained in the mined rock, but here it is in the tailings. This is a lot,” notes Torgoev.

The scientific institute believes that dangerous chemical processes occur in the abandoned ores.

“Frankly speaking, I am sceptical about such a development, given that very few successful examples exist worldwide. Especially at Kumtor, with its difficult climatic conditions and frigid winters. Theoretically, the work can be carried out, but practically, we’ll see,” commented the scientist.

According to Torgoev, the price of gold may fall, and because of unprofitability, the Finnish company could refuse to process tailings. Moreover, the reclamation of tailings is a very complicated technological process. In addition to constructing water drains, a layer of a meter thick soil is required to cover them. Otherwise, the waste will go into the rivers and soil, harming the environment. The former owners of Kumtor, the Canadian company Centerra Gold, accumulated about $60 million for the reclamation of the tailings pond after the mine was depleted (tentatively in 2027). However, after the nationalization of the mine, the fate of these funds remains unknown.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan, there are 92 burial sites for toxic and radioactive substances in the country. Of these, 23 tailings contain uranium elements, while the rest are buried with radioactive rock residues, heavy metals, and cyanide.

27 Jun 2024

Central Asia, Turkmenistan International Affairs, Turkmenistan, International Affairs, Turkmenistan Business & Economy, Business & Economy

Turkmenistan Discusses TAPI Pipeline with Officials from UAE, Pakistan

June 28, 2024
By Times of Central Asia

The Turkmenistan-UAE business forum was held in Turkmenistan on June 25.

According to the portal Chronicles of Turkmenistan, the country has signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on cooperation in developing the third stage of the Galkinish field, a potential primary supply source through the TAPI gas pipeline. This gas pipeline is essential for the country from an economic point of view, both at the national level and for transit countries and consumers.

Turkmenistan’s president Serdar Berdimuhamedov, and his father, the former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov — who is now the chairman of the country’s People’s Council — discussed with Pakistan’s minister for industries Rana Tanveer Hussain the construction of the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project, and the TAP (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan) route.

The discussions covered high-level visits between the two countries, trade and economic cooperation, transport communications, transit and trade collaboration, parliamentary cooperation, and people-to-people relations.