Last week, trades on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) were focused on the common and preferred shares of the Kazakhmys Corporation (Listing B). On 24 March, 778 shares were sold for a total of KZT 160.96m (USD 1.84m). The amount of traded shares increased to 1,765 the next day and the traded volume reached over KZT 824.4m (USD 9.45m). The rate of preferred shares increased 17% and the rate of common shares decreased by 25% during these transactions. Market players attributed this activity to the actions of Samsung Corporation, the owner of Kazakhmys, who attempted to increase its interest in Kazakhmys' capital to a controlling block of shares. (IRBIS)