The Week in Kazakhstan: Not All Welcome
- 04.09.2024 11:57
Another company falls under US sanctions, a new study on Temirtau reveals killer air pollution
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will open the next parliamentary session with an address to the nation on September 2. Experts expect Tokayev to lay out strategies for economic development as well as give guidance regarding the country’s next big decisions, such as the upcoming referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant.
In a speech before the participants of the latest Summer Olympics in Paris, Tokayev said that the government should prioritize youth training in a wide range of sports. He also said that the practice of naturalizing foreign athletes should be abandoned in order to allow for young local talents to obtain a place in the national teams. It is common practice for countries to naturalize athletes from other countries.
The US Treasury Department added another Kazakhstan-based company, CATU TECH, to its sanctions list on August 23. The company was allegedly founded by a Russian citizen in March 2022, only to change its owner and type of activity just weeks after it was registered. US government agencies believe it is linked to sanction-evading schemes that aid Russia’s efforts in its war in Ukraine. In June, the Treasury Department had sanctioned another Kazakhstan-based company involved in a “false transit” scheme.
A court in Almaty sentenced on August 29 Gulmira Satybaldy to 12 years in prison for extortion and other crimes. She is the ex-wife of Kairat Satybaldy, an entrepreneur who was sentenced to six years in prison for embezzlement two years ago. This latest sentence against Gulmira extends to 12 years a previous sentence.
An August 27 report by Human Rights Watch said that Kazakhstan’s government is purposefully misusing ‘extremism’ or terrorism-related criminal charges in an effort to curb activists and critics. If convicted, these people face harsh financial restrictions that “can cut you off financially,” according to Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at HRW.
A new study regarding air pollution at a steel plant in Temirtau exposed the impact that the plant had during the three decades it was operated by ArcelorMittal. The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air published on August 28 a report that, among other serious issues of contamination, estimates that “air pollution from the Temirtau steel plant has contributed to the death of [around] 3,000 people in the surrounding vicinity.”
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