Economic Papers 2. Washing­ton, D.C.: George Washington University, Elliott School, Central Asia Program, Septem­ber 2012.

Kazakhstan’s policy of ‘resource nationalism’ scored another win in early 2012 when the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which is managing the development of the offshore Kashagan deposit, declared its readiness to help KazMunayGaz (KMG) to secure a US$4 billion loan from National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NFRK). It was reported in March that the funds are to be issued in two tranches, in 2013 and 2015. The off-shore Kashagan hydrocarbon deposit is the largest strike in the world since Prudhoe Bay in Alaska over four dec-ades ago. This decision is in line with President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s earlier declaration that the Fund’s money should not gather interest in foreign banks but instead be put to work financing domestic economic development.

Key Points

• Kazakhstan’s ‘resource nationalism’ is learned behavior arising from twenty years of experience of independence.
• Successful administrative and financial reforms from the 1990s and early 2000s facilitate its implementation.
• Its purposes are to insure (1) timely development of energy deposits through increased participation in management decision-making, (2) economic and social development outside the energy sector, and (3) public health through ecological and environmental security.