Germany and the United States, during Merkel’s final visit as Chancellor to Washington, concentrated their efforts not on whether the pipeline should be completed but rather on how Ukraine might be compensated if it loses its status as a transit country for Russian gas.

Kazakhstan’s focus on improving investor dispute resolution and prevention mechanisms has been an essential element of this success. A great deal has been done in recent years. Many countries around the world, especially those that have passed through similar transitions from other non-capitalist economic systems in their recent history, can draw useful lessons from Kazakhstan’s experience.

The unrest has obviously unnerved the EU so much that the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, scheduled an unexpected visit to the region on July 17.

In Kazakhstan this week, the film director Oliver Stone presented his latest documentary, Qazaq: History of the Golden Man, an eight-hour hagiographic ode to the autocrat Nursultan Nazarbayev—a particularly grotesque move in a country where the government has been systemically stifling media ever since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Recent street violence has dealt another blow to its image. Longtime allies in the EU are dismayed and the USA is considering sanctions against those promoting violence against perceived foes

Oil and gas condensate production declined to 17.2 million tonnes, while natural gas output increased to 20.4 bcm in the first half of 2021.