Kazakh PM unexpectedly quits, forcing out govt

ASTANA, Jan 8 (Reuters) Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov resigned without explanation today, in an unexpected move that will trigger the formation of a new cabinet.

Former Soviet Kazakhstan, the largest Central Asian state, bordering both China and Russia, holds huge energy reserves and has become a source of oil and gas for the West looking to circumvent the Arab-dominated OPEC.

It was not clear why Akhmetov resigned, but President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has run Kazakhstan since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union, keeps a tight rein on ministers and often reshuffles senior officials for his own reasons.

''I hope that you will continue to work in this area (government) and continue to creatively put into action ideas of the head of state,'' Akhmetov told his colleagues after announcing his resignation at a cabinet meeting.

Akhmetov, 52, a Nazarbayev loyalist, looked relaxed and happy during the session, which was videotaped and shown to Reuters, but did not say why he had resigned.

Nazarbayev accepted the resignation which under the constitution triggers the removal of the cabinet. But current ministers will stay in office until a new government is formed. Until then, Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov will head the interim government.

A leader of Kazakhstan's marginalised opposition said a change of prime minister would have little impact in Kazakhstan, where Nazarbayev calls the political shots.

''In the current political climate it won't have any impact,'' Oraz Zhandosov, himself a former premier, said.

ENERGY RICHES Akhmetov had been prime minister since June 2003. He is a career politician and a Nazarbayev supporter and won a second vote of confidence from the president when he was reappointed to his post a year ago.

Local media immediately started speculating on a possible successor, focusing on 41-year-old Masimov and Adilbek Jaksybekov the 52-year-old head of the presidential administration.

Kazakhstan produces around 1 million barrels of oil a day which it pumps mainly to the West. It has ambitions to triple output by 2015, pushing it into the world's top ten producers.

Western energy companies have poured money into Kazakhstan, characterised by its stability in a region wracked by civil strife since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

But Western oil companies in particular have complained of a change in the law which states that Kazakhstan's main state oil company must own half of all future investments, while foreign companies bear the burden of exploration costs -- a change instigated by Akhmetov.

Parliament, which according to the constitution approves the president's nominee for prime minister, is due to hold a plenary sitting on January 10.

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