Foreign Employers Face Tighter Regulation

In a sign the Kazak government may be tightening up on the employment practices of foreign firms, subcontractors working for a major oil consortium have been given a deadline to sort out alleged breaches of domestic labour laws. Observers note that the measures come in the wake of clashes last year between foreign and local workers employed at a different oilfield in western Kazakstan.



Last week, the state commission which issues permits for employing foreign workers set a deadline of February 1 for two subcontractors to deal with problems relating to temporary hiring procedures. The commission alleges that the companies hired expatriates without obtaining the right permits, failed to employ the required number of Kazakstan nationals, and did not pay the same rates to local and foreign workers with equivalent qualifications.



The contractors involved work for the Agip KCO consortium which is developing several oil fields including Kashagan, the major Caspian deposit.



Some commentators argue that the commission should have acted sooner.



“There is good legislation in place, but it is not being observed,” said member of parliament Serik Abdyrahmanov. “Rather than suddenly reacting to such problems when they arise, we have to learn to track and resolve disputes as they emerge.”



Abdrahmanov believes the authorities are keeping a closer eye on Agip KCO’s subcontracters because of the public reaction to events in October last year, when 100 Turkish and 300 Kazakstan workers clashed at the Tengiz field, run by a different consortium, TengizChevrOil. Observers said the clashes were sparked by claims that local hires had worse terms and conditions than the expatriates.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)