This report was prepared in the Eurasia Division of the OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate (GRC), under the overall direction of Mr Andreas Schaal, Director and Mr Karim Dahou, Deputy Director of the OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate, and with the guidance of Mr William Tompson, Head of the OECD Eurasia Division. The report was supervised by Mr Grégory Lecomte, Senior Policy Analyst and Head of the Central Asia Unit, and co-ordinated by Ms Céleste Laporte Talamon, Policy Analyst, OECD Eurasia Division.
The lead authors of this report are Mr Egor Polishchuk and Ms Mariam Chkhikvadze, Policy Analysts in the OECD Eurasia Division, with guidance and significant analytical support provided by Ms Céleste Laporte Talamon. The chapter “Setting the scene” benefited from analytical and statistical inputs of Ms Sara Grubanov-Boskovic, Policy Analyst, and Mr Cengiz Arikan, Statistician, both from the OECD Istanbul Centre. The chapter “Managing environmental risks in the CRMs sector” benefited from significant analytical inputs, drafting contribution and review of Ms Peline Atamer, Senior Policy Analyst and Head of the Sustainable Infrastructure and Green Growth Unit in the OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate, as well as from the guidance and review of Mr Guy Halpern, Policy Analyst in the OECD Environmental Directorate. Mr Benjamin Katz, Sector Lead Analyst, Mr Luca Maiotti and Mr Andres Aponte, both Policy Analysts, from the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct, provided guidance and analytical inputs to the chapter “Advancing Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) standards in mineral supply chains”. The chapter “Fiscal Risks and Tax Policy Challenges in Central Asia’s CRMs Sector” was drafted by Mr Tomas Balco and Mr Andrew Viola, Senior Advisers, and Ms Jessica Rankin-Dixon, Junior Adviser, in the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTP) and Mr Nicholas Dluzniak, Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Expert. It was subsequently developed and integrated into the present report by the OECD Eurasia Division team. Ms Anna Chahtahtinsky, Programme Administrator, Ms Jolanta Chmielik, Resource Management Advisor and Ms Elisa Larrakoetxea, Project Administrator in the OECD Eurasia Division, provided unfailing administrative, logistical and editorial support.
The project would not have been possible without the continuous support of, and dialogue with, representatives of government, the private sector, business and civil society associations, development partners and other stakeholders across the region.
In Kazakhstan, the OECD is particularly grateful for the support of the Ministry of Industry and Construction and the Ministry of National Economy, and especially to Mr Sairan Baizhakhanov, Representative of the Ministry of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan to the EU. Mr Almaz Ashirov, Investor Relations Manager at Dala Resources LLC provided useful comments to the draft report. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision, Mr Arkady Rogalsky, Independent Consultant, and Mr Azamat Akeneev, OECD Local Consultant; and in Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Mining Industry and Geology, in particular Ms Feruza Khamidova, First Deputy Minister, Mr Kuhinur Shukurjonov, Head of the Division for Strategic Development and Grants Acquisition and the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. We are also grateful for the review provided by Mr Han Ilhan, Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of JSC “Uzbekistan Technological Metals Complex”.
The OECD would also like to thank the Central Asian embassies in Paris for their support throughout the project, particularly Mr Askar Abdrakhmanov, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Kazakhstan to International Organisations in Paris; Mr Ruslan Bekbolotov, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in France, and Mr Sunnatillo Tilloev, First Secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in France.
The present report was greatly improved by the numerous comments and reviews from colleagues within the OECD. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions and review provided by Mr Louis Marechal, Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC).
Finally, the OECD is grateful for the financial support of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). In particular, the OECD would like to thank Ms Sally Axworthy, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Kazakhstan, Mr Nicholas Bowler, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Kyrgyz Republic, and Mr Timothy Smart, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Uzbekistan. The OECD also extends special thanks to Mr Yash Chandra, Head of the Central Asia Programme - Integrated Security Fund and First Secretary at the British Embassy in Dushanbe, Mr Charlie Morris, Economic Development Counsellor for Central Asia, and Mr Umed Rahmonov, Regional Programme Manager in the Central Asia Development and Programme Team at the UK FCDO for their constant support and commitment to the project.