ENRC fears data loss after burglary and system is hacked. Loans will help fund Kazakhstan road project. Mongolia: Succumbing to the Resource Curse?

The Telegraph - ENRC fears data loss after burglary and system is hacked - ENRC, the troubled FTSE 100 company being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, warned data relating to the Kazakh miner could have been lost after an employee's laptop was stolen and its systems were hacked.

World Highways - Loans will help fund Kazakhstan road project - The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is providing an infrastructure loan that will help fund a key road project in Kazakhstan. A major portion of this funding will be used to construct a key 79.5km portion of the new international transit corridor connecting Western Europe with Western China.  The US$1.07 billion funding package is being provided by the IBRD for 19 years with a five-year grace period and the deal was agreed between the IBRD and the Kazakhstan Government. Further funding for the project will come through a co-financing package from Kazakhstan’s own budget and will be worth in the order of $188.5 million. The project involves the construction of a new road connecting Shymkent with the border of the Jambyl Province and the actual work will be financed using some $306 million from the loan.

Eurasianet - Kazakhstan: Resources Giant Faces Oligarchs’ Hostile Takeover Bid - Following the launch of a corruption probe in the UK involving a natural resources giant with strong links to Kazakhstan, the company, ENRC, has become the subject of a hostile takeover bid by powerful interests with connections to the Central Asian state.

Truth out - A Novel Idea: Asking an Afghan About Afghanistan - The Silk Road nation of Kazakhstan is an excellent place to encounter the dervishes of the Great Game for control of the camel-and-pipeline routes of the Central Asian steppes. Here we can witness the diplomatic-military idiocies of new empires pathetically attempting to ignore the dried skeletons of the imperial forces that went before them.

The Huffington Post - Teachers In Kazakhstan Recall Dias Kadyrbayev, Friend Of Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - "He had no aptitude for physics or mathematics, but that doesn't mean he was bad," Dovgal said, adding that Kadyrbayev later graduated from an elite private school.

Reuters - Kazakhs to decide fate of ConocoPhillips' Kashagan stake by July 2 - Kazakhstan will decide by July 2 how it wishes to proceed on its right to buy U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips' stake in its huge Kashagan oilfield, Kazakh Oil & Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Wednesday.

The Diplomat - Mongolia: Succumbing to the Resource Curse? - Mongolia, rich with coal, gold, and copper has been riding high on the global natural resource boom. The country’s proximity to China makes its resources even more attractive. Over the past decade, mining sector development has led to significant foreign investment and growth in government spending, provided a boost to household incomes, and has moved much of the country beyond its nomadic herding past. In 2012, Mongolia was one of the world’s hottest economies, clocking GDP growth of 12.3 percent. However, political risks emerging over the past year put this positive frontier market story at risk.