When Kazatomprom listed on the London Stock Exchange in mid-November 2018, there were hopes that Kazakhstan’s long-touted privatisation might finally get underway.
The $400.8 million share sale of a 15% stake in the national uranium producer in London and on the Astana International Exchange was deemed a success. It was the first international Central Asia privatisation since 2006, its global depositary receipts GDR traded up 3.4% on their debut, and right behind Canada’s Cameco, Kazatomprom became the second-largest publicly traded uranium miner in the world.
But the flurry of privatisations that many hoped would then materialise have failed to appear. The oil-rich Kazakh economy a lynchpin of...