At a meeting of the commission of parliament (Maslikhat) of Atyrau region with the participation of members of parliament, heads of departments of the regional akimat (regional authority) and the deputy governor of the region, the issue of Tengiz and Kashagan was considered. In particular, the issue of local content in the Tengiz and Kashagan projects, as well as employment was raised.

At the meeting there was discussion about the reduction of workers due to the pandemic. Petrocouncil.kz, together with the Atyrau University of Oil and Gas, regional akimat, National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan and subsoil users, considers to create a Competence Center to address this issue. The goal is to assist local personnel who have been downsized and train them for the needs of the industry and other sectors of the economy.

The problem of customs payments was also raised. In particular, the localization of goods does not increase it is cheaper for foreign operators to import goods since they are not subject to customs duties because under the PSA agreements. This means that foreign goods are often cheaper than Kazakh ones.

During the discussion, there were complains about the work of work permits commission. It was proposed to make the work permits commission more transparent and efficient with the participation of members of regional parliament.

The chairman of Petrocouncil.kz, member of Atyrau regional parliament Assylbek Jakiyev spoke at the meeting and was entrusted to lead further this important issue on behalf of the regional parliament.
According to Assylbek Jakiyev, stakeholders are ready to consider and solve all three issues of local content jointly.

“In general, we have good working relations with the operators TCO and NCOC. We cannot say that they are not doing anything. They are also working to increase local content. Most importantly, we need to consider these issues on a quarterly basis and resolve them together with government agencies, provide support to operators. Petrocouncil.kz is ready to be a working body in this matter, “Assylbek Jakiyev says.

Also, it was proposed to strengthen the work on the signed MoU between TCO, NCOC and the Akimat of Atyrau Oblast. The akimat and operators signed a protocol on the development of local content in 2017.

As a result of the meeting, it was decided to propose the governor of the region to hold quarterly meetings with operators within the framework of MoU to promote local content in Atyrau region. Regional parliament (Oblast Maslikhat), as a representative branch of power, will assist in negotiations with the Government to resolve the issue of customs duties.