Kazakhstan PM refuted gossips on reorganization of Samruk-Kazyna

Kazakhstan Prime-Minister Karim Massimov refuted the gossips about transferring of KazMunaiGas (national oil company) and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (national railroad company) to the Ministry of Oil and Gas and the Ministry of Transport and Communications, respectively, KazTAG reports citing Russia’s Kommersant-Online magazine. “I refute it. Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund will remain the same and with the same assets,” Massimov said in the interview published on Monday, January 23. Meanwhile, “certain structural changes will be made” in the Government. “In the nearest week I will make suggestions to the President, both on the structure of the new government and on personnel issues,” he said. Commenting on the question whether privatization plans, including People’s IPO, would be reviewed by the ministers in view of the crisis threat, Massimov said that the government “is not halting” the privatization program. “The People’s IPO will be continued as well. The right timing is yet to be defined. The Program is designed for the people of Kazakhstan to benefit. The goal is not to secure the greatest possible profit for the participating companies: to do so they should go to London and other markets. In this case the best option is low prices of shares in the right time for common people to buy. So when the IPO in London or Hong Kong driver the prices high, they will be able to get a good margin,” Head of the Government said. In the other words, “there will be a mechanism allowing people to sell their shares in London and Hong Kong”, Massimov said. “At the first stage selling shares on the top is good for a company. But if a private shareholder invests money into the shares and then the price goes down, he would have a totally different attitude,” he added. Massimov also stated that there are no plans to postpone the People's IPO yet. At the same time, answering the question about delays in Kazakhstan government' s approving of the budget of the 2nd stage of Kashagan that was supposed to have been done in autumn 2011, Prime-Minister said that “negotiations are in process”. “A slowdown was related to elections and forming of the new government. It wasn’t clear who would be the negotiator from the Kazakhstan’s side. As I have remained the Prime-Minister and Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev has retained his position as well, we are resuming the negotiations and they will be completed in the nearest time,” he stated.