Prague, 29 January 1997 (RFE/RL) - Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev says the deepening of the economic crisis was halted last year and the main goal now facing Kazakh economy is completion of the privatisation. Speaking in Parliament yesterday Nazarbayev stressed the need for tighter control on tax revenues in order to overcome the delay in wage and pensions payments. Last year tax revenues in Kazakhstan amounted to 6,000 million tenge ($80 million) monthly.
Heating Switched Off Over Debts In Almaty
Our Almaty correspondent reports heating was switched off today in several public offices in the Kazakh capital over debts to the power company. The Almaty Power Consolidated, in which the Belgian Traktabel Company has a share, is owed about 2,000 million tenge (about $27 million) by the city. Among buildings left without heating were the State Medical Institute and a popular skating rink on the outskirts of the city.
Kazakhstan, Bulgaria Discuss Economic Cooperation
Marat Ospanov, chairman of the Majilis (lower house) met yesterday with a visiting Bulgarian delegation to discuss future economic cooperation. The Bulgarians, led by the vice ministers of agriculture and of the building industry showed an interest in purchasing Kazakh wheat and in Bulgarian workers participating in the building of the Kazakh capital-to-be Aqmola.