ASTANA Thomson Financial - Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov ordered the opening of negotiations between the state and Kazakhmys to give the state a share of the copper producer's newly acquired power assets in Kazakhstan.
Earlier this week, US power company AES agreed to sell its Ekibastuz coal-fired power plant and the Maikuben West coal mine in Kazakhstan to Kazakhmys for 1.5 bln usd.
Masimov said the assets are 'strategic.'
Earlier, Masimov threatened to seize oil fields and mineral deposits from private investors following a series of disputes with top Western energy majors.
'If contractual obligations for the development of mineral resource deposits are not respected, the contracts will be cancelled and (the deposits) will be returned to the state,' Masimov told a government meeting.
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