Kazakh oil workers to face shrinking salaries, layoffs

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Oil-rich Kazakhstan is starting to feel the effects of falling oil prices.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik announced Monday that oil and gas salaries will be reduced by 31% in the immediate future. "In 2015 gross income of Kazakhstani subsoil users has fallen sharply [by 52%], compared to 2014. Plus, oil has recently dropped to $50 per barrel. It is not hard to predict that oil salaries will decline by 30-31%," he said talking about the current situation in the oil & gas sector at the session of the Government. Minister Shkolnik also admitted that up to 40,000 oil workers are likely to face layoffs for the same reasons. "If the [oil] prices remain at the current level, up to 40,000 oil workers in Kazakhstan can lose their jobs," he added.