Canadian Firm Gets Hammered by Kazakh Authorities

Canadian company PetroKazakhstan Inc., responsible for developing oil fields in southern Kazakhstan, has transferred about $3.6 million to the Kazakh state budget as income obtained unlawfully.

"All procedural issues have been completed. The money has been paid to the state budget today," Deputy Chairman of the Kazakh State Agency for Regulating Natural Monopolies and Protecting Competition Almas Mynbayev told a news conference.

According to officials, in late March the Kazakh Supreme Court upheld the anti-monopoly agency's instruction in relation to PetroKazakhstan Inc. and ruled that the company's unlawful monopoly profit to the tune of around $3.6 million should be returned to the state.