According to CentrAsia, as of September 26, Kazakh authorities have the right to unilaterally refuse to honor any contract, including ones that have already been signed. A new amendment to this end was made to the Law on Mineral Resources and their Utilization and was unanimously adopted by the Kazakh parliament, informed the news source. In particular, the amendment states that if, at any point, the utilization of Kazakh mineral resources is determined to run contrary to the economic or security interests of Kazakhstan, the government has the right to demand from the contractor a change in the way the resources are used or to terminate the contract completely. 

Separately on the same day, the Kazakh millimejlis (parliament) also received a proposal to amend the Law on Customs, suggesting relaxing customs requirements on import and export procedures in Kazakhstan, added CentrAsia.

This information was originally published September 27, 2007 (www.centrasia.ru)