Moody's has assigned ratings of "B2" and "Not Prime" for long- and short-term foreign currency deposits, respectively, and "E+" for the financial strength of Bank TuranAlem (BTA). Moody's said that the ratings reflect the bank's size (it is Kazakhstan's third largest bank) and the increased likelihood that the bank will be supported by the Kazakhstani government in case of a crisis. Moody's sees the bank's main weakness as its concentrations in its loan book and funding base. (Reuters)

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After selling 51% of its shares to Kazakhstani and foreign investors, Neftekhimbank, a Moscow subsidiary bank based in the city of Shymkent, South Kazakhstan, has become a Kazakhstani bank with foreign interest. One of the bank's spokesmen told Reuters that the deal was closed in mid-summer before the crisis burst in Russia. The new shareholders (each with no more than 50% of the total issued shares) are planning to increase the bank's authorised capital to KZT 1.1bn (USD 13.7m) from KZT 231m by the end of the year. Then the number of the bank's common and preferred shares with a face value of KZT 2,000 will be 500,000 and 50,000, respectively. (Reuters).

Kazakhstan's largest iron ore producer, the Sokolov-Sarbaisk Mining and Concentrating Plant (SSMCP), will resume producing ore on October 12. The plant stopped its extraction of ore last August due to decreased demand. In August-September, the management of SSMCP conducted negotiations with Russia's Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant (MMP). SSMCP decided that it will produce and ship 520,000 tonnes of iron ore per month starting in October. Of this amount, 370,000 tonnes will be supplied to MMP, 115,000 tonnes to Ispat Karmet (Kazakhstan), and 35,000 tonnes to China. (Interfax)

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Altynalmas, Kazakhstan's gold producer which has licenses to mine at five of Kazakhstan's gold deposits, is planning to invest over USD 300,000 in the reconstruction of the Akbakaisk mine (South Kazakhstan) by the end of the year. Over the past three years, the company has invested KZT 250m (USD 3.1m) in this mine, and almost the same amount was reinvested from the mine's profits. Recently, Altynalmas completed paying the Australian company Moon Stone USD 4.3m for the Akbakaisk plant. This plant can produce 14,000 tonnes of gold and silver concentrates per year. (Interfax)