the team has secured a three year sponsorship deal with Samruk-Kazyna, a Kazakh holding company which includes oil company Kazmunaigas and airliner Air Astana. However, despite this new backing, it appears that the final two million Euro instalment of funding for 2009 has still not been paid.
As I surmised, the problem isn't a lack of money, but the team's financial management. I.e. the Kazahks.
The deadline for Astana (and all ProTour teams) to submit its final paperwork is October 20th ... Apart from financial and ethical guarantees, the team will also have to submit its lineup for 2010, but this is clearly up in the air. If the UCI is not satisfied that the team is on track and will be run professionally, the ProTour licence will be revoked and it is likely that the team will collapse.
Don't be surprised if this happens.