National oil and gas company KazMunayGas denied information about the merger of KazTransOil and KazTransGas in a press release published on January 19. The company said that this kind of merger would be economically inadvisable.

The company’s statement is contrary to the plan of sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. In November 2015, the fund’s Chairman Umirzhak Shukeyev said that the merger of the two companies was part of a wider privatisation programme. Therefore, it remains unclear whether there was a change in the planned privatisation programme or KazMunayGas is opposing the government’s policy regarding the privatisation of its assets.

KazMunayGas revealed that it decided to make a statement following a number of inquiries from the media. The company did not provide any other facts or details regarding this decision.

KazMunayGas is a  national operator for exploration, production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbons. It is fully owned by the state: 90% of its shares belong Samruk-Kazyna while the National Bank of Kazakhstan owns the remaining 10%.

KazTransOil is KMG's subsidiary which owns the largest network of main oil pipelines and waterlines in the country. At the same time, KazTransGas is a national operator for transporting and supplying gas. The company unites gas extracting, transporting, selling and processing enterprises and organisations.