Wealth fears Workers in Kazakhstan

BIG companies operating in Kazakhstan, anxious to avoid the kind of bitter struggle that culminated in riots last Deecember, are giving into quickfire strikes by workers, according to a report by Robin Paxton of Reuters, on the Mineweb site.

Seventeen people were killed and hundreds injured when police clashed with striking oil workers on December 16, 2011. Dozens of people were arrested. The Kazakhstan unions, with support from those in Russia and the International Confederation, are urging the Kazakh authoties to review the cases, investigate allegations of torture, and remove legislation which makes it a criminal offence to "call for social strife", a law which they say particularly hits trade unionists.

With gold, iron, copper, coal and uranium to be mined, Soviet-era steel plants and single industry towns, Kazakhstan is potentially a very rich country, its $185 billion economy the largest in Central Asia.

Big mining companies including Glencore-controlled Kazzinc and London-traded Kazakhmys and ENRC, have reaped bumper profits on record-high commodity prices. They count some of the country's richest men among their shareholders. But the workers who produce this wealth say they are struggling to keep up with inflation, and that after they have paid higher rents and power prices they have not enough to feed their families.

State repression is not effective in quelling the unrest. Kazakhmys, the world's 11th-largest copper miner, found this out in May. Around 80 miners refused to leave the Annensky mine when their shift ended. More than 200 joined the underground sit-in. Also in May, steel workers held a rally to demand a 30 percent hike in base salaries on top of an inflation adjustment of 7.4 percent.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the world's biggest steel producer, paid its coal division employees an average monthly salary of $915 last year, an increase of slightly more than 12 percent on the previous year. IThis year, the company has offered both its steel and coal workers a 10 percent increase in base salary. It's a compromise that was accepted on June 19 by the coal miners' trade union, on the understanding that talks will resume when markets improve.

But that may be some time. As Paxton notes, "...the spectre of labour dissent has been compounded by a recent downturn in the market. Copper prices, for example, have fallen by nearly a fifth in the last year as concerns mount over Europe's debt crisis and slowing economic growth in China.

"ArcelorMittal's Temirtau plant faced an even more sudden shock to demand when Western financial sanctions on Iran closed the door overnight on a market that accounted for a considerable portion of the mill's sales last year.

"Vijay Mahadevan, chief executive of ArcelorMittal Temirtau, said the government had advised the company to resolve its labour issues peacefully. Talks with the steel workers' union are continuing."



Trade Unions Letter
(This can also be signed on line. See Labour Start site below)

Kazakhstan: Justice for oil workers!

In partnership with the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, the Confederation of Labour of Russia, and supported by the International Trade Union Confederation

Over a period of several months, court trials related to the tragic events in Zanaozen of 16 December 2011 have taken place. Many months of dispute between oil workers and the management of oil companies, with the connivance of the authorities, resulted in disorders, violence and the uncontrolled use of force by police, which caused the death of 17 and injuries to dozens of people. Not only oil workers were killed and injured, but also citizens of Kazakhstan who had no involvement with the labour conflict.

Dozens of people, whose involvement is contestable, were subsequently charged. Many of them were sentenced to different terms in prison. During the process, international observers, representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and OSCE, human rights defenders and journalists recorded numerous violations in the trial processes. Almost all defendants and some of witnesses stated that they were tortured in the course of the investigation, but the trials were not suspended. The trials were conducted in an environment of extreme tensions and close to a state of emergency measures in the region.

The international trade union movement demands that the sentences be reconsidered, that all cases of torture and provocation be thoroughly investigated, and that national legislation that envisages criminal responsibility for “calling for social strife” and that is used selectively to put pressure on trade unionists, human rights activists and public figures, be changed.

http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1461

For Reuters report on companies etc:

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page72068?oid=153934&sn=Detail&pid=102055


While international trade unions are calling for the end of repression, the Kazakh government has one well-known -and well-paid - one-time "Labour" leader promoting its cause and polishing its image, as best he can considering his own is so despised here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8982290/Kazakh-activists-urge-Tony-Blair-to-give-up-adviser-role.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/nick-cohen-tony-blair-kazakhstan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17827773
Kazakhstan president sacked son in law after oil unrest:
http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/12/22/kazakh-president-sacks-son-in-law-after-deadly-clashes/#axzz1z8Mlr7Br

Which brings us to the Windsor Connection:

http://randompottins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/prince-property-and-petroleum-profiteer.html

The Prince, the Property, and the Petroleum profiteer

"SOUTH YORK", as Duke's delapidated mansion was nicknamed by 'Dallas' fans, comparing it to Southfork, before the council considered it might do for homeless. And below, Andrew discussing Kazakh affairs with friend Goga Ashkenazi, not a gold-digger in any sense, though she has done well in precious minerals.

IT could not be allowed to distract from the Queen's Royal Jubilee which we are all officially supposed to enjoy, and whether we like it or not have all had to pay for, but another member of her family, second son Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is not for the first time finding his affairs coming under scrutiny.

This was the Daily Mail on May 28:

"A controversial deal in which the Duke of York’s marital home was sold for £3million more than its asking price is being examined by two international money-laundering investigations, it was claimed yesterday.

Prosecutors in Italy and Switzerland are probing how Sunninghill Park, a wedding gift from the Queen to her second son, was bought by an offshore trust belonging to a billionaire Kazakh tycoon.

They are examining whether bribes allegedly paid from Italian companies to the Kazakh regime could have been used to fund the Sunninghill sale, including a ‘network of personal and business relationships’ suspected of involvement in ‘international corruption’, according to a Sunday newspaper".

At a time when many people have been worried about property prices, and many more are worried whether they can keep a roof over their heads, Prince Andrew too has had his worries, such as whether to spend any money on doing up the 12-bedroom mansion in Berkshire which he acquired for nothing and has not lived in for the past ten years.

Sunninghill Park, originally part of Windsor Forest, passed through various hands before a substantial Georgian house was built there. During the war it served as headquarters of the American Ninth Air Force from November 1943 to September 1944. The Crown Estate Commissioners purchased the property in 1945, and made the main house available to the then Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and her future husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for after their marriage in November 1947. But the house burned down on 30 August 1947 before they could occupy it, so they rented Windlesham Moor instead. In the mid-1960s the site was considered for a new home for Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, but this did not happen.

In 1988 the walled garden of some 5 acres was purchased from the Crown Estate Commissioners on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. The following year construction began on a two-storey red brick house to be the home of the Duke and Duchess of York. The architect responsible was Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, Balmoral Estate Architect and Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at Heriot-Watt University. Construction was completed in 1990.

The house has six reception rooms, 12 bedrooms, and 12 bathrooms, and compares in size to the larger country houses built since the Second World War. Sunninghill Park was the first newly-built royal home since Bagshot Park was built in 1879 for the Duke of Connaught. In the tabloid press the home was often referred to as 'SouthYork' a play on words for the 'Southfork' estate on the popular 1980s soap opera Dallas.

The nearest the pile came to Dallas were the times that Fergie, the Duchess of York, spent with Texan billionaire Steve Wyatt there, before and after her divorce.

Until 2004, the Duke of York and his former wife shared the family’s home, Sunninghill Park. That same year, the Duke moved to the refurbished Royal Lodge, previously the home of his grandmother, who resided there until her death in 2002. In 2007, the Duchess rented Dolphin House, and became next door neighbours with her ex-husband. He moved in 2004, following refurbishment of Royal Lodge, funded by taking out a mortgage on Sunninghill Park. HM Land Registry records show that the house was sold for £15 million in 2007, £3 million over the asking price, to an offshore trust in the British Virgin Islands. (Wikipedia)

Behind this stood Timur Kulibayev, the billionaire son-in-law of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who met Prince Andrew several times during the royal’s role as the UK’s trade envoy.

Two years ago the Daily Mirror reported:

Exclusive: Prince Andrew's £15 million former royal residence could be seized and used for the homeless

Sunninghill Park - the home given to the couple as a wedding present by the Queen in 1986 - has gone to rack and ruin since the Duke of York sold it two years ago to a mysterious Kazakh billionaire for £15million.

Housing officers at Bracknell Forest Borough Council want to talk to the owner, who has never moved in, before the mansion crumbles any further. The council confirmed it is considering using its powers to seize the 12-bedroom home - set in 665 acres of Berkshire countryside - and use it for the homeless.

There have already been several attempted break-ins and neighbours fear squatters might claim the sprawling property for themselves.

It is said the prince's real profit on the deal was more like £7 million, because the house's state meant it was not worth the asking price.

"At the time of the 2007 deal there was speculation that it was a favour to the Duke because of his close relationship with Kazakhstan – rumours fuelled by the fact that the 12-bedroom mansion has stood empty since the sale and is apparently derelict.

The deal was brokered by socialite Goga Ashkenazi, who has claimed that the Duke asked Mr Kulibayev for £15million and that he immediately agreed, adding it was ‘like any property deal between friends’.

But £6million allegedly came from Hong Kong-registered Enviro Pacific Investments, an oil and gas company that charges multi-million-pound fees to businesses seeking energy contracts in Kazakhstan."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150894/Corruption-probes-launched-Duke-Yorks-15m-home-deal.html#ixzz1wqW5Hea3

An indictment lodged with a court in Milan earlier this month accused several Italian companies of paying bribes to the Kazakh regime, including Mr Kulibayev, who is alleged to have received £12.8million.

In 2010, Swiss prosecutors launched an investigation into allegations that Mr Kulibayev used Swiss banks to launder the proceeds of fraud. He vehemently denies claims that he misappropriated millions of pounds in his former job, running Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil industry between 2000 and 2005.

The investigation is expected to include a £115,000 business meeting between Miss Ashkenazi and Kazakh oil executives at a Thai beach resort in 2007, when they were said to have discussed the Sunninghill purchase.

Miss Ashkenazi did not respond to requests for comment. Buckingham Palace said: ‘This was a private sale between two trusts. There was never any impropriety on the part of the Duke of York, any suggestions of which are false.’

Oxford-educated Ms.Ashkenazi with her useful intimate friends in Britain and Kazakhstan did very well dealing in Kazakhstan gold shares and has bought a Paris fashion house. Prince Andrew was able to introduce her to the Queen at Ascot.

Meanwhile in Kazakhstan the government has been cracking down on workers who went on strike last year for several months, demanding back pay, but also protesting lack of public investment in developing their towns, and terror against trade unionists. There were violent clashes with riot police. The workers demand to know where profits from their industry went, and say it should be renationalised.

I dare say Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev might be able to give them some more idea on where the money went when he gets home from attending the Royal Jubilee at Buckingham Palace.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/9291896/Money-laundering-probe-puts-spotlight-on-the-15-million-sale-of-the-Duke-of-Yorks-home.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150894/Corruption-probes-launched-Duke-Yorks-15m-home-deal.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/exclusive-prince-andrews-15million-former-407390

http://news1.capitalbay.com/news/163511.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/nick-cohen-tony-blair-kazakhstan

http://www.rferl.org/content/tony-blair-kazakh-links-under-greater-scrutiny/24595431.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/gallery/2009/mar/01/property-monarchy

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/kazakhstan-oil-and-gas-strikers-force-release-of-arrested-colleagues.275611/

http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5032

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/central-asia/8442777/Goga-strikes-it-rich-in-Kazakh-gold-deal.html

Blair caught up in blood and oil row in Kazakhstan

ARE there no limits to Tony Blair's energies and expertise? Middle East "peace envoy", £2 million a year adviser and rep for JP Morgan's bank, and more recently consultant to Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose central Asian state doesn't just provide a butt for Ali G .'s ignorance-thriving humour but also produces oil, coal and other useful resources, including uranium.

Throw in writing a book, lecturing and appearing on TV not to mention the Iraq war inquiry (alas not yet a war crimes trial) and our ex-New Labour prime minister must really have his work cut out. And to think how I thought I was doing well some years back with a warehouse job, a weekend paper stall and penning unpaid articles for lefty publications. Needs must when the devil drives, and I guess the ex-PM's pension is not much when you've got more than one home and send your kids to private schools.

Blair's jobs are not just sinecures. His work for JP Morgan may be classed as part time but it did involve six trips to Libya no less for talks with the late Colonel. His work for the ex-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan's president places him in the company of princes, from Andrew to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, so you can't go worrying him about "principles".

But now questions are being asked about the Blair billions and where they come from, not to say just where they go, at the same time as his latest client is in serious trouble.

Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General's Office has launched a criminal investigation into actions taken by police during riots earlier this month in the western city of Zhanaozen that left more than a dozen protesters dead. Nurdaulet Suindikov, a spokesman for the office, told reporters in Astana that the investigation would seek to determine whether individual police abused their powers by firing on protesters with the intention of killing them.

According to official figures, at least 16 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, including 17 police officers, during the unrest, when sacked oil workers clashed with police guarding official "independence" celebrations. Unofficial figures put the number of protesters killed or wounded as much higher.

Amateur videos posted to the Internet by residents of Zhanaozen appeared to show police firing at people as they fled the scene of the protest, contradicting official claims that police only fired into the air or ground and only in self-defense. Before the inquiry was announced it was reported that police were pursuing investigations, not to identify those responsible for shooting demonstrators but to find those responsible for shooting the videos.

Umirzak Shukeev, the head of a government task force created to restore order in Zhanaozen announced on December 28 that a 20-day curfew imposed on the city in the wake of the violence would be extended. He did not say how long the special police measures would remain in effect.

Journalists and internet activists were arrested in raids, and on December 29, authorities announced that more than two dozen opposition activists had been detained as part of the prosecutor-general's investigation. Interfax reported that some of the detainees could face charges of arson and looting.

Impoverished oil workers in Zhanaozen and other parts of the Manghystau region have been holding peaceful protests since May, demanding better wages, improved working conditions, and greater rights. Many were fired by their employees -- subsidiaries of the state-controlled KazMunaiGaz company -- over the summer. Among thos arrested have been workers who blocked a railway line.

President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who visited the remote region last week, accused energy officials and the local government of failing to address the protesting oil workers' demands.
Nazarbaev fired his powerful son-in-law, Timur Kulibaev, as the chairman of Samruk-Kazyna, which controls almost all of Kazakhstan's major businesses, including oil and gas firms. He also fired the governor of Manghystau Oblast and the KazMunaiGaz board director. A state of emergency is in place in Janaozen until January 5.

Denying that workers' grievances had anything to do with what happened on December 16, however, Nazarbaev backed the heavy-handed response, saying the “police were carrying out their duty and acted legally within their authority”.

Western powers interested in Kazakhstan's resources as well as its central strategic position are likely to be concerned by the former Soviet republic's reported moves back into closer economic relations with the Russian Federation and Belarus. They are also anxious not to see a movement with parallels to the "Arab Spring" taking this country into political uncertainty. For this reason they may not want to be too closely associated with Nazarbaev if they fear he may fall.

Nazarbaev was reportedly hoping that Tony Blair's advice could help him secure a Nobel peace prize. He might have reconsidered his confidence in our ex-prime minister having seen what use all those meetings with Blair were to Colonel Gaddaffi in the end .

http://iwpr.net/report-news/simmering-tensions-boil-over-kazakstan
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/newsquery1.pl?searchtext=Kazakhstan&language=en&number=100&Go=Go

On Kazakh trade unions:
http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1862

Blair's connections:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/8999890/Tony-Blair-and-the-8million-tax-mystery.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/10/blairjpmorgan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/8857689/Oil-rich-dictator-of-Kazakhstan-recruits-Tony-Blair-to-help-win-Nobel-peace-prize.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1365907/Tony-Blair-Prince-Andrew-mutual-Kazakhstan.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055223/Tony-Blair-billionaire-donor-Lakshmi-Mittal--major-deal-Kazakhstan.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8982290/Kazakh-activists-urge-Tony-Blair-to-give-up-adviser-role.html

Socialist Party/Committee for a Workers International reports:

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/13247/24-11-2011/arrested-in-kazakhstan-free-georgii-epshtein
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/12822/21-09-2011/kazakhstan-dictatorial-regime-threatens-socialist-activists

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/13363/16-12-2011/70-dead-amp-500-wounded-by-riot-police-in-kazakhstan