Mobile rates for Altel and Tele2 customers in Kazakhstan are off-limits to government scrutiny until the end of 2026, following a court decision tied to an international agreement with Qatar. Mobile Telecom-Service (MTS), which owns the Altel and Tele2 brands, won its case in the Almaty Court of Appeal, which…
Kazakh investors can now buy shares in major American companies such as Amazon and Google for as little as $1, thanks to a new feature rolled out in the Tabys app by the Astana International Exchange (AIX), according to the Kazakhstan Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS). The Tabys app, in…
Kazakhstan’s most influential business figures have come together to form the Kazakhstan Investors Union (KIU), a new organization dedicated to promoting economic development and enhancing the investment climate. The companies of prominent tycoons Timur Kulibayev, Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk were among the latest to join the recently established group.…
Kazakhstan’s National Bank has launched a «regulatory sandbox» for digital assets, a controlled environment allowing companies to test new services using blockchain-based technologies, according to the regulator’s press office. The first round of pilot projects has been launched in four key areas: Real estate tokenization Digital tokens will be issued…
Halyk Finance has expressed concern over the growing role of the government as a source of long-term investment in infrastructure and the capacity of Kazakhstani enterprises. The share of budget funding in the structure of capital investment reached 21.9% in the first half of the year. Over the first six…
Retail investors in Kazakhstan will now pay taxes based on the netting principle. All transactions starting from Jan.1, 2025, will be taken into account on a cumulative basis — with the possibility of deducting losses from profits. These changes to the Tax Code were signed into law by President Kassym-Jomart…
A young population and a growing appetite for new experiences make Kazakhstan an increasingly attractive destination for international brands. However, launching a sustainable business in the country requires more than introducing a well-known name — it demands long-term investment in local capacity, infrastructure and market-specific adaptation. Fast food landscape Kazakhstan’s…
More than 720 Russian companies exited Kazakhstan in the second quarter of 2025, the steepest quarterly decline on record, according to data from the Bureau of National Statistics, highlighted by the First Credit Bureau. Between April and July, the number of companies in Kazakhstan with Russian founders fell by 728…
Eurasia Mining PLC, headquartered in London, has officially launched share trading on the Astana International Exchange (AIX). Securities have become available to investors in Kazakhstan through the cross-listing, without a follow-up offering, AIX emphasized. The mining company was founded in 1995, and its securities have been listed on the London…
Kazakhstan will build its first nuclear power plant (NPP), with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts (GW), using Russian export financing, according to the country’s Agency for Atomic Energy (AAE). In mid-June 2025, Kazakhstan chose Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom to lead the international consortium for constructing the plant, which will…
According to Tural Aliyev, an analyst at Freedom Finance Global, in the face of trade uncertainty and muted forecasts for the S&P 500, investors are better off putting their money into «old and reliable stocks.» Aliyev notes that Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025 has once…
Kazakhstani online game Grand Mobile has raised $750,000 in investment from the Astana Hub Venture Fund. The deal was made at a company valuation of $75 million. Grand Mobile is an open-world RP life simulator created by 27-year-old Roman Lineytsev from Ust-Kamenogorsk, a participant in the Forbes «30 Under 30»…
According to Kazakhstan’s Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has become a tool that foreign companies use to evade taxes, turning it into something like an offshore zone within the country. The official made this claim during a discussion of the new Tax Code…
A plant for recycling plastic waste and producing PET (polyethylene terephthalate) preforms is set to be built in Almaty. The announcement came from Darkhan Satybaldy, the city’s mayor, following a recent meeting with Murat Kökoğlu, CEO of Turkish firm Köksan Holding. The facility will be constructed on a 15-hectare site…
KazMunayGas (KMG), the national oil company of Kazakhstan, has become the largest company in Kazakhstan by market capitalization, surpassing fintech giant Kaspi.kz, which has moved to second place, according to the Qazaq Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS), which first noted this shift. Since the beginning of the year, KMG’s market…
China Road and Bridge Corporation has been modernizing Kyrgyzstan’s largest airport, Manas International Airport in Bishkek, since April. It will also upgrade the country’s second-largest airport in Osh and plans to build a completely new airport in Jalal-Abad within two years. The most interesting part is that this is being…
BCC Invest, a Kazakhstani brokerage company, has raised its valuation of KazMunayGas (KMG) shares following the company’s Q1 2025 financial results. Analysts set a new target price at approximately $35 per share. BCC Invest’s projection increased by more than 9%, compared to its previous forecast from April 2025. As a…
Kazakhstani startup Metaclinic, which provides online medical consultations, has closed a $150,000 funding round at a $2 million valuation, Digitalbusiness.kz reported. The investment came from a multi-specialty clinic chain. The Metaclinic team plans to allocate the raised funds toward further developing and scaling the service through B2B partnerships. While the…
Freedom Broker has officially launched operations in Kyrgyzstan, marking its entry with a grand opening ceremony in Bishkek. The event was attended by Minister of Economy and Commerce Bakyt Sydykov, Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov and representatives of Kyrgyz public agencies, development funds, banks, major local companies and investors.…
Investment in fixed assets across enterprises in Kazakhstan continues to grow. Notably, this growth is driven less by oil projects and more by infrastructure developments, including schools and hospitals. Despite this shift, the ratio of investments to GDP has declined, reaching a 10-year low. Top 100 largest investment projects by…
For years, the U.S. has ranked among the largest investors in Kazakhstan. But in 2023, foreign direct investment (FDI) from the U.S. dropped by nearly 80%. In 2024, the country recorded a net outflow of $870 million in U.S. investment, the first such outflow since data tracking began in 2005,…
Foreign investors began pulling out of Kazakhstani securities after U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on imported goods from more than 180 countries, according to National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov. He addressed the issue during a press briefing on April 11, adding that the situation has since stabilized. Suleimenov…
Kazakhstan is eyeing a mining boom and seeking partners in Canada. During a recent visit to Toronto, Renat Bekturov, governor of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), estimated the value of Kazakhstan’s untapped mineral resources at $40 trillion. He invited Canadian companies to play a role in developing these resources.…
Kazakh Invest, Kazakhstan’s national investment promotion agency, has addressed the recent decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country. In 2024, gross FDI inflows dropped by 28%, from $23.9 billion to $17.1 billion. Meanwhile, net FDI turned negative for the first time since records began in 2005, reaching -$2.55…
