Nazarbayev offered Russia to exchange Kashagan for Orenburg

Aktau hosted a forum titled "President is the Wealth of People" attended by prominent politicians and parliamentarians that were pioneers of the independent Kazakhstan.

Majilis deputy Kuanysh Sultanov shared his memories of working together with the country president Nazarbayev:

- Once upon a time, at a meeting of the heads of Caspian states, Boris Yeltsin made a suggestion to Nazarbayev - to give the oilfield of Kashagan to Russia. Nazarbayev replied "Ok, then you give back Orenburg. The former capital of Kazakhstan."

One day, the Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov said: "You, Kazakhs, are rich, because you have all the oil. By the way, Mangystau Oblast is a Turkmen soil in fact." The answer of the Kazakh president was sharp: "Saparmurat, be grateful for that Adays did not conquer Ashgabat."

Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov, in his turn, emphasized brilliant memory of the head of state:

- During the talks on division of the Caspian Sea, Mr Nazarbayev drew a detailed plan of the sea specifying all figures and facts on a paper. Then the Russian president Yeltsin suggested Nazarbayev dividing everything in brotherly way. Nazarbayev said "Boris Nikolaevich, we've been sharing in brotherly way for 70 years, let's now share fairly."

WKT citing www.express-k.kz