The high-profile dispute between the Kazakh government and the consortium led by Italy’s Eni over the Kashagan oilfield continued this week. Kazakhstan said it would be seeking $10bn of compensation for the oilfield’s delayed development and rising costs. Despite the Kazakh government’s order to suspend operations at the oilfield, Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of Eni, said that work there had not ceased.
On Monday Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin embarked on a four-day tour of Central Asia. Energy was high on the agenda as Bulgaria is seeking to diversify its natural gas supplies, which are dominated by Russia’s Gazprom. It is the first visit by a top Bulgarian official to the region in over ten years. As his visit ended Turkmenistan announced significant increases in oil and gas production in the first eight months of 2007 compared to the same period last year.
Food inflation is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in the region as world grain prices rise. A member of Kyrgyzstan’s parliament called on the government to resign over price hikes in staple foodstuffs. The Eurasia Daily Monitor looks at the impact of inflation on the poorest Kyrgyz citizens. Kyrgyzstan’s dependence on Kazakhstan and Russia for resources is widely blamed. Reports also emerged from Uzbekistan of protests about rising prices there.
Tajikistan faces similar problems; experts have called for drastic agricultural modernisation. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on the controversial suspension of schooling in the country each autumn so that children can participate in the cotton harvest.
It was widely reported that the German terror cell whose foiled bomb plot dominated the headlines this week belonged to the Islamic Jihad Union, an obscure movement with origins in Uzbekistan, which has previously attacked the Uzbek prosecutor’s office.
The Economist’s correspondent in Kyrgyzstan offers a diary of a week’s journey through the country, including an interview with fruit juice entrepreneur Ishen Obolbekov.
Stay tuned to Central Asia Now for weekly news digests. Keep an eye out for our fortnightly analysis slots by regional experts.
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