KZBlog

There’s been a lot in the news about allegations of corruption against Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. These allegations were brought by Mukhtar Ablyazov, opposition leader and former head of BTA Bank currently in exile after being charged himself with financial crimes. The police have dismissed the accusations as without evidence (and also refused to accept any new evidence on the matter) but the courts also refused to allow Kulibayev open slander cases against newspapers who published Ablyazov’s accusations. Anyway, in case you’re wondering what the big deal is, there are two great sources that explain clearly and in detail what exactly Ablyazov was alleging: The Oil and the Glory and The Wall Street Journal [Which apparently has gone subscribers only between the time I read this article and the time I posed the link].

It’s also a bit of a wake-up call on how much China is involved in Kazakh oil, for those who worry about such things. Interesting to note that in the comments on the WSJ article, many Russians post what appear to be copy-and-paste warnings to Kazakhs that the Chinese will take them over. Quick history lesson: Which country has ever taken over Kazakhstan? Russia or China? I don’t want to get into the midst of this because I have seen people in Kazakhstan get quite violent discussing why China is a serious danger to their national sovereignty. I would be more worried about whether or not oil money is being redirected for the good of the people, whether that money comes from China, Russia, the US or Fiji!