AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan has deferred an initial public offering of national oil firm KazMunayGaz to beyond 2019, two banking sources said, slowing the pace of the country’s privatisation plans and inflicting another blow to London’s stalling IPO market, Reuters reported.

The decision is partly due to tepid investor appetite for stock offerings, due to uncertainty about Brexit, U.S. political tensions and a global economic slowdown, topped off by the U.S.-China trade war and sanctions against Iran and Russia.

KazMunayGaz (KMG) and its main shareholder, Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Kazakh government invited international investment banks in September to pitch for roles in the listing of KMG, sources said then, part of a broader plan to list crown jewels such as its telecom and railway operators and reduce the presence of the state in the economy to 15 percent by 2021.

Sources put the company’s potential valuation at around $6 billion. KMG accounts for 28 percent of the total crude oil and gas condensate production volume in Kazakhstan and 16 percent of natural and associated gas. It has more than 89,000 employees.