Zhairemsky GOK, a producer of manganese ores and ferromanganese concentrates located in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan, has reportedly become financially sound one year earlier than expected. The Karaganda District court has, therefore, stopped a lawsuit on its bankruptcy. The plant has been managed by the Swiss company Nakosta AG since late 1995. In 1996 Nakosta bought out 90% of the state stake. In late July 1997, the Karaganda District court started the lawsuit due to the enterprise's insolvency and rehabilitation measures were introduced for a period of two years. Under the rehabilitation programme, a new ore processing facility went into operation and a manganese ore processing line resumed working. Some of the plant's facilities were switched to the mining and processing of monobarytic ores. This year, the plant has produced products in the amount of KZT 100m (some US $1.3m) per month. The company has paid back KZT 68m (US $0.9m) in wage arrears. (Interfax)

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Ispat Karmet, Kazakhstan's steel giant, has reduced production by 12-13% over the first seven months of 1998. The reduction was caused by the decreased purchasing power of the company's customers due to the crises in Southeast Asia and Russia. The production of cast iron fell by 9.9% compared to the same period of 1997; the output of steel decreased by 12.8%, and the output of rolled products by 8.4%. At the same time, the plant increased the production of tin plate by 10.9% and almost doubled the production of steel pipes. (Interfax)

Kazakhtelecom has signed a credit agreement with the Israeli bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. to finance the construction of a DAMA national satellite network in Kazakhstan. This information was released by the company's financial director, Erlan Aliev, at a press conference last Thursday. He said that the total cost of the project was estimated at US $5.996m of which 85% would be provided through the bank's loan with an interest rate of 7% per annum. The remaining 15% will be paid by Kazakhtelecom. The loan has been granted for 4 years. According to Mr. Aliev, the project should pay for itself in 3 years. It will start in mid-October and take 18 months to complete. (Interfax)

The rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's have awarded Kazakhstan's national electric grid operator KEGOC with the foreign debt ratings "Ba3" and BB-, respectively. Both appraisals are equal to Kazakhstan's sovereign rating. The company is the first among Central Asian industrial companies to have been given international ratings. This was preceded by an international audit carried out by Arthur Andersen. Cooper's & Lybrand, valued KEGOC's fixed assets at US $2.5bn. According to international analysts, KEGOC "plays an important role in the Kazakhstani economy and has a reliable technology base, a stable financial position, and strong management." Though the company had planned to issue Eurobonds, this has been postponed due to the current unfavourable situation in world markets. "We are not happy with the current Kazakhstani Eurobond yields of 20%-30%. We are waiting for better times," said the president of KEGOC, Aset Nauryzbaev. (Interfax)