Environment and Security: Transforming risks into cooperation

First page Previous page 37 Next page Last page

Eastern Caspian

Environment and Security

��

�

��

Another factor relevant to the impact of the energy sector’s development in Kazakhstan is the overall increase in per capita income in Atyrau and Mangystau (twice as high as the average for Kazakhstan). Average wages rose to the top of the scale in Kazakhstan (Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan). On the other hand the rise in salaries can hide the persistence of substantial wage differ- ences – sometime exceeding a factor of 18 37 – between the oil-and-gas sector and other sectors, especially farming. The Gini Coeffi- cient is an indicator measuring inequalities in income distribution. For Atyrau and Mangys- tau in 2002 it showed values 0.43 and 0.36 respectively, compared to Kazakhstan’s aver- age 0.33 (Pomfret 2006; World Bank 2004). Although in 2006–7 inequality and pov- erty levels decreased all over Kazakhstan compared with 2001–2, they nevertheless remained high in Atyrau and Mangystau

despite these provinces’ high levels of per capita GRP. Between 2001 and 2006 the percentage of the population living below the subsistence minimum in Mangystau fell from 60% to 26%, and in Atyrau from 56% to 24% 38 (Agency of the Republic of Kaza- khstan on statistics). The widening gap between urban and rural areas is also apparent in income and poverty levels. Although poverty rates in Mangistau and Atyrau provinces are generally among the highest nationwide, there is cause for even greater concern regarding rural poverty. In Atyrau it has come close to 44% at cer- tain times, while in Mangystau it culminated at 85% of the rural population (the highest level in the country) compared with a nation- al average of 35% for the rural population 39 . Despite the importance of oil production in Mangystau, almost 40% of its total popula- tion is poor, which is higher than a poverty

Made with FlippingBook