According to the Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbaev, the Kazakhstani government intends to conclude new concession contracts with the national oil and gas company KazakhOil for the companies whose assets have recently been transferred to KazakhOil. This in particular concerns Pavlodar Refinery among other companies. Pavlodar Refinery has been managed by the U.S. CCLoil under a 5-year contract since March 1997. (In May 1998, 87% of shares in the refinery were transferred to KazakhOil). CCLoil will not be dismissed from the management team. However, the concession contract will be revised.

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The State Property Department has reportedly completed inspection of the performance of the company Hurricane Kumkol Munai which has been developing the Kumkol oil field in the south of Kazakhstan. According to officials, the company has fulfilled its major contractual obligation. It provided US $59.9m in direct investment in 1997 which is US $23.8m in excess of the planned figure and has paid back all wage arrears and debts to non-budget funds. The company produced 1,795,158 tonnes of oil in 1997, exceeding the target volume of production of 1,708,000 tonnes. The entire output of the company is supplied to the Shymkent Refinery. The company is currently funding the construction of a new oil terminal at the railway station Druzhba, in order to increase crude oil supplies to China.

The situation on the Russian market has reportedly had an impact on Halyk Savings Bank's (HSB) plans to place a Eurobond worth US $100m. The crash on the Russian stock exchange coincided with the final stage of the road show of the HSB Eurobond issue. As a result, most investors have revoked their applications.

According to Zeinulla Kakimzhanov, assistant to the President of Kazakhstan, the government will soon set forth a resolution on the second stage of the privatisation of Halyk Bank which, in particular suggests a third issue of shares worth US $24.7m. Following the issue, a 15% share in the bank will be sold to national investors via a closed auction.