A document published on Wednesday showed that the Kazakhstan government withdrew from parliament a bill to ratify a planned $6 billion renewable energy deal with the Abu Dhabi Holding Company and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA).
Prime Minister Alikhan Ismailov signed a decree withdrawing the bill on Monday, according to the official legal database, on the first working day after a week of violent unrest that led to the resignation of the previous cabinet.
The decree did not give any reasons for this step.
Analysts had questioned the deal announced last month because it was not preceded by competitive bidding.
Under the planned agreement, the two Emirati companies and Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund were to establish a joint venture that would acquire stakes in two hydroelectric plants in Kazakhstan and build a solar power plant, a wind farm and a gas-fired power plant in the former Soviet republic.
According to Reuters - which reported the news - it has not yet been able to reach officials in the "Holding" or "TAQA" to obtain a comment after the end of official working hours.
Protests over increases in car fuel prices in Kazakhstan turned violent last week, and resulted in the marginalization of its leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned as President of the Republic in 2019, after ruling the country for nearly 30 years, but retained wide powers as head of the Security Council. nationalist.
Kazakhstan has the largest proven oil reserves in the Caspian Sea region, and produces about 1.1 million barrels per day of crude oil. Western companies have pumped tens of billions of dollars into the oil fields of western Kazakhstan, where protests erupted.