“Central bank of Kazakhstan reportedly steps in to prop up KazMunayGas”, “Ex-Prime Minister of Kazakhstan appears before court”, “Why is Russia afraid of NGOs?”,

akipress.com. “Central bank of Kazakhstan reportedly steps in to prop up KazMunayGas"- President Nursultan Nazarbayev meets with the Chairman of the National Bank, Kairat Kelimbetov, to discuss the bank's performance and plans. Analysts raise questions about the reasons for Kazakhstan's national wealth fund's sale of a 10 percent stake in the state energy company to the National Bank, wondering if the bank was pressured to accept the deal and how well Kazakhstan is coping with a slowdown in economic growth.

tengrinews.kz. “Ex-Prime Minister of Kazakhstan appears before court"- Former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov has appeared before the court on July 27 in Karaganda for preliminary hearings on the case involving large scale corruption. Serik Akhmetov is accused of committing six crimes of corruption: bribery in especially large amount - $2.4 million (360 million tenge), embezzlement of budget funds in the amount of 1.1 billion tenge, three counts of abuse of office with damage to the state worth over 1 billion tenge and illegal involvement in entrepreneurial activities. Akhmetov denies being guilty on any other charges and says he performed his duty in good faith.

dw.com. “Why is Russia afraid of NGOs?" - Why is Russia so concerned about the state of its constitution? Can NGO activity really undermine a country or are other factors required? Fiona Clark in Moscow goes in search of answers. This week Russia banned the activities of the US-Congress funded NGO, the National Endowment for Democracy or NED, on Russian territory. This is the first NGO on a list of about 12 'undesirable' organizations to be shut down under a law that came into effect a few months back.