Kazakhstan President urges to strike a balance between interests of the state and those of extraction companies

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev tasked the Government to strike a balance between the state interests and interests of extraction companies when it comes to associated gas. “Natural associated gas is a huge resource to use for a few decades to come. Associated gas extracted by investors does not belong to them. It belongs to the government. However, there is a need for reinjection. The Government should find a compromise”, President Nazarbayev said on Monday when speaking at the opening of the Parliament session. “We could build gas and thermal electric power plants in the west of Kazakhstan. It could be a cleaner and cheaper source of energy (…) We haven’t looked into the issue yet”, he said. President emphasized in a separate statement that the Government had been sluggish to introduce green technology and tasked the Government and legislators to come up with incentives to spur clean technology development.