Qatar and Kazakhstan sign $24bn deals
16 February 2024
Companies from Qatar and Kazakhstan have signed several contracts covering gas processing, power generation and telecommunications services, which could require investments totaling $24bn.
The contracts and agreements were signed on 15 February during a visit to Doha by a high-level delegation from Kazakhstan, headed by its President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Qatar-based contractor UCC Holding has signed two energy contracts for seven projects in Kazakhstan.
UCC signed the first contract with QazaqGas for two gas treatment plants. The first gas processing plant will have a capacity of 1 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year, while the second plant will have a capacity of 2.5 bcm a year.
The other projects included in this contract comprise the construction of a new compressor station and main gas pipeline, and the construction of the second line of the Beniu-Bozoy-Shymkent gas pipeline project.
UCC Holding's chairman Mohammed Moutaz Al Khayyat and QazaqGas CEO Sanzhar Zharkeshov signed the contract.
UCC signed a second contract with Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry for the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant with a total capacity of about 1,100 MW in the Kyzylorda region.
It also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a gas treatment plant with a capacity of 6 bcm in the Kashagan field.
Kazakhstan Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev and UCC's Al Khayyat signed the contract and the MoU.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Kazakhstan's Tokayev witnessed the signing of the deals in Doha on 15 February.
A source familiar with the projects said the announced schemes could require a total investment of up to $24bn.
In the same meeting of the heads of state, Qatar's Power International Holding (PIH) signed an agreement to acquire Kazakhstan's Mobile Telecom Services, owned by the National Telecommunications Company (Kazakhtelecom).
US/India-based Synergy Consulting is the financial adviser for UCC and PIH for the contracts and planned projects in Kazakhstan.
Qatar expects to become one of the 10 largest investors in Kazakhstan, according to Al Thani, noting Kazakhstan's readiness to increase exports to Qatar for 60 non-resource commodity items for a total of $250m.
Al Thani also proposed to increase mutual trade to $500m "in the near future".
Potential areas of investment in Kazakstan include agriculture, transport, logistics and tourism.
Other areas of cooperation between the two states were formalised, including an extradition agreement; mutual legal assistance in criminal matters; the regulation of the employment of Kazakh employees in Qatar; and cooperation within the digital, innovation and aerospace industries in Kazakhstan.
Photo: UCC
MEED's February 2024 special report on Qatar includes:
> GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: Qatar’s return to economic normality
> BANKING: Qatar’s banks adjust to new circumstances
> OIL & GAS: Qatar enters period of oil and gas consolidation
> POWER & WATER: Qatar power and water projects to take off
> CONSTRUCTION: Qatar construction enters reboot mode
> SPORTS: Qatar’s sporting vision transcends World Cup
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