Having been accused of misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars, Gulnara Karimova is now under house arrest in Tashkent; one more indication of the schism that is splitting the ruling family.
Kazakh banking is in a state of disarray, as banks assimilate the consequences of a recent 20% devaluation of the tenge. But there is also consolidation taking place, adding to the flux; and those bad loans…
President Nazarbayev has turned Kazakhstan into a Central Asian powerhouse. He is 73, and shows no sign of giving up the reins. But there are riches at stake, and people waiting in the wings.
