Wednesday, December 3, 2008

PUBL.- Working Paper: Transportation of Kazakhstani Oil via the Caspian Sea

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies


PUBL.- Working Paper: Transportation of Kazakhstani Oil via the Caspian Sea

Posted by: Farid Guliyev <fareedaz@yahoo.com>

New Working Paper: "Transportation of Kazakhstani Oil via the Caspian
Sea - Arrangements, Actors and Interests," RussCasp Working Paper, Nov 18, 2008

by Farid Guliyev and Nozima Akhrarkhodjaeva
Jacobs University Bremen

Abstract:
The present paper examines both domestic and international actors,
involved in the westward oil shipment of Kazakhstani oil, and their
interests. It demonstrates that while foreign companies have been
backed by their governments, national firms have also enjoyed
considerable state support, partly because the companies represent the
interests of political elites in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The
analysis reveals some important linkages between political classes and
business elites. There are indications that most companies along the
shipping line either belong to the governments of Kazakhstan or
Azerbaijan, directly or indirectly (through subsidiaries), or enjoy
favoritism and (near) monopoly positions in their markets (crony
capitalism). Some of these firms are privately owned but registered in
off-shore tax havens, while some others have rather obscure ownership
structures and corporate profiles. It suggests that cronyism and state
capture comprise that
politico-economic environment within which the future of Caspian
transport systems is to be decided.

Keywords: Kazakhstani oil, transportation, tanker traffic,
trans-Caspian, Azerbaijan, crony capitalism

This working paper is a product of Work Packages 5 and 6 of the
research project "RUSSCASP ­ Russian and Caspian energy developments
and their implications for Norway and Norwegian actors," financed by
the PETROSAM program of the Research Council of Norway and carried out
by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the Norwegian Institute of
international Affairs (NUPI) and Econ Pöyry as consortium partners,
and also includes other institutions and researchers as participants.

Download Full-Text Paper [PDF] from the RussCasp website:
http://www.fni.no/russcasp/Kazakh_Azeri_%20oil_transport_RussCasp_Work
ing_Paper.pdf

or via SSRN: http://ssrn.com/author=908297


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