The Kazakhstan banking circles vividly discuss a possible merger between Halyk Bank and Kazkommertsbank. Supposedly, it will happen before the end of this year. So far, neither of the banks has released any official information. So, at the moment, we are unable to analyze the details of the transaction and its possible outcomes. Therefore, in this article, we will limit ourselves to investigating the reasons for this merger and the personae behind it.
In 2003, Global Options prepared a report on the future political, economic, and social developments in Kazakhstan. The report was commissioned by the Kazakhstan government. It is an almost 300 page document. Mostly, it concentrates on the Kazakhgate investigation or, to be precise, on the obstacles set on the way of those conducting it – the US authorities in collaboration with the European secret service.
The citizens of Kazakhstan are enduring yet another critical period of their country’s history. We can see it from the mere fact that the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence was celebrated officially but not publicly and was overshadowed by many unpleasant incidents.
The reign of President Nazarbayev is ending. Everyone in Kazakhstan realizes it now. To see that, one only needs to look at the last year discussion in the Kazakh press and the Internet. The discussion was about a possible Nazarbayev’s successor(s) and how the state regime could (should) change after the so called “leader of the nation” parts from this life. What is more, on the background of Islam Karimov’s death and all the related internal political events in the neighboring Uzbekistan, this discussion took an especially topical turn.
As part of the discussion on the nearest future of Kazakhstan, in this article, we are going to analyze a plan to shift the supreme power after President Nazarbayev passes away. Let us see how feasible this plan is.
